The Phoenix Eye
by AmascusMage
Summary: A short fanfiction which alternates between two timelines, the Wutai war, and nine years after the fight against Jenova.  The story follows the path of the mysterious artifact known as the Phoenix Eye, and includes most of the characters from the game.
1. Prologue: Legacy of Honor

…Even through the torrential rain, Tifa could see the explosion from her position in the front passenger seat of the second vehicle parked one hundred meters further back. She didn't need any more instructions.

"Let's go!" she yelled, almost ripping her door off of its hinges in her haste, not waiting for the others present to acknowledge or caring if they followed. Barret, Cid, Yuffie, and Elena did not take more than a moment, though, to agree with Tifa's assessment and exit the vehicle.

"Will someone give me a report of what's going on!" Reeve screamed through the radio over the sounds of melee and gunfire.

"The first vehicle has been destroyed." Elena responded as she sprinted after Tifa. "Second team approaching as backup."

"Yeah." Tseng's voice echoed through the radio. "We've been attacked by a…" the transmission cut off as another large explosion tore through the city.

"Tseng!!!" Elena called, her voice changing from alarmed to hysterical by the time she had finished uttering the name. She raised her hand to her ear, pushing in the radio as far as the flesh would allow, straining for any sign that her friend and superior was still alive…

The Phoenix Eye

Prologue

Legacy of Honor

_-- Island Empire of Wutai, 27 Years Ago:_

The morning sun gleamed across the great sea to the East; breaking into thousands of golden shards across the backs of the gentle waves. The shifting breeze mixed the smell of saltwater with the aroma of the freshly blooming tree blossoms scattered through the island's spring forests. On the beach separating the land and the sea, a great spectacle had developed; an event that had never before been seen, and never would again be duplicated.

Standing on the white sands, Lord Goshen surveyed the scene before him. The beach was full of his people. Before him were legions upon legions of his finest samurai warriors interspersed with elite ninja scouts and assassins. Warriors, young and old, and of every house and clan stood side by side united. The marks of every fighting style embellished the armor and weapons of men and women alike. Champions, who should by all rights be enemies and competitors, stood together, prepared to fight and die for each other and for their country. Lord Goshen's eyes lingered a moment on the face of his younger brother Godo, a noble warrior, who might one day be required to lead the people, as Lord Goshen himself had no heir. Behind the ranks of soldiers were assembled the rest of Wutai, gathered to bid their farewell to their kindred, knowing that many of them, if not all of them, might never return.

Satisfied with the support of his people, the revered general turned his attention to the other part of the gathering. To his right and left, Lord Goshen beheld the works of countless Wutaian artisans and craftsman. Paper dragons the size of large dogs littered the shoreline, their articulated painted wings echoing the honor and dedication of the house and family the artists sought to venerate. Each one was different, in shape and color, reflecting the ultimate care and dedication poured into them by their creators. A little further up the beach, carved brass panthers hunched frozen against the sand, and behind them twelve foot tall wooden statues of men stood in formation, their stoic vigil a stark contrast to the fiery colors of the painted dragons. And though the panthers and giants lacked color, they were far from simple or plain. Intricate designs and symbols of house and honor adorned their lifeless features. Each brass panther bore sharpened steel claws and hand hewn eye-gems of precious jade. Each wooden giant reflected in his carved countenance patience, dedication, and wisdom. Each motionless work of art testified to the skill and dedication of the craftsman who had painstakingly created it.

Goshen, lord of Wutai, tore his gaze for a moment from the marvels surrounding him to glance back at the sea. Waiting just beyond the surf were scores of battle ships, scout ships, and transport ships, all with sails furled, waiting for his command to send them to war. And further still, standing majestically upon the natural rock jetty that formed the harbor, was the great monument to Leviathan. For Generations beyond remembrance the great serpent statue had remained embedded deep in the granite cliff, guarding the people of Wutai with its eternal watch, guiding wayward fisherman home from the storms, and standing as a remembrance to friend and foe of the gods that watched over the sea. Lord Goshen smiled to himself. Many things would change this day. It would be a day remembered in history for centuries to come.

A balding old man with a snowy white beard approached the lord of Wutai. "We are ready, my lord Goshen." he said in an earnest voice. "The people await your command."

With that the old man withdrew a step and waited. Lord Goshen passed his eyes over his people once more. He was proud of his people, they had given their all to this effort and he would not disappoint them. "Lords and ladies, venerable samurai and loyal ninja, people of Wutai. Today we face a common enemy. For years the people of the outside lands have abused us. They have mocked our honor and shamed our ancestors. They have slain our ambassadors and stolen our children. They defile the very water they drink and the air they breathe with their smoke and their noxious fumes.

"And now, they have struck the final wound. Their greed is not satiated by the power and wealth they already have, no, the Shinra have now assaulted the earth herself to despoil her very soul. The elders have foreseen that this path, if followed to its ultimate conclusion, could threaten every living thing in all creation. For these reasons we go to war. It is for our children, and their children, that we will fight and die with honor. My people – for you are today, all of you, my brother and my sister, my father and my mother, my son and my daughter – fear not. Our ancestors are with us. Creation itself, is with us. And we shall not fail."

His words echoed across the distant Da-Chao Mountains as he fell down to one knee, his face raised skyward, and his left hand moving to the pendant around his neck. His people watched their lord now in eager anticipation. Most of the people present had only heard legends of the power of the Phoenix Eye, few remembered its glory.

Lord Goshen clutched his left hand around a magnificent rose-carved ruby. Entwined around it was a meticulously crafted gold phoenix connecting the ruby to the chain that hung around his neck. With his right hand lord Goshen withdrew his ancestral katana, the Sword of House Kisaragi, and held it in the air in front of him. His eyes focused, and his voice bellowed out to the heavens, reading the inscription on the blade. He spoke slowly, but loud enough for his people to hear. Enunciating each word carefully in the way he had been taught by his father. "Spirits of life and death I beseech you. The hour of darkness has fallen and only the light of the phoenix can illuminate the path once again. Come to our aid gods of the old lands, hear our cry ghosts of the ancestors, your children need you once more." His voice grew in crescendo and he chanted, culminating in fervor of emotion as he finished the incantation.

The people of Wutai shielded their eyes as an intense red light burst forth from their lord, extending into the heavens. The clouds above them evaporated as the red light filled the sky. The morning sun burned purple and the mountains seemed to catch fire. Wood creaked as the carved giants flexed their fingers for the first time. The brass panthers growled low and shifted their weight, testing their retractable steel claws. Paper dragons spread their wings and rose gracefully into the crimson sky. And then the earth trembled and shuddered as the great stone serpent Leviathan dislodged itself from its ancestral home, tearing apart the cliff side and smashing the rocks that separated it from the foaming current. Larger than any of the ships in the harbor, the great sea serpent shot forth columns of water hundreds of feet into the air as it plunged into the sea. Leviathan returned to the surface, floating as no stone should be able to float, before bellowing an earsplitting roar across the harbor.

The burning light faded and several elders rushed forward as the great Lord Goshen almost collapsed into the sand. Pride and confidence filled the hearts of every warrior as they beheld the magical army before them. How could they lose with such a power behind them? After a few moments Lord Goshen stood up, signaling to the elders supporting him that he was recovered enough to stand on his own. He called forth again to his people, his voice slightly strained this time, obviously taxed by the miracle he had called forth. "Warriors of Wutai, to battle!"

As if they had been waiting for this moment their entire lives, all the people of Wutai cried out in one voice. The Samurai and the Ninja, and all the animated constructions rushed forward to the boats that awaited them. Even Lord Goshen himself turned and began walking towards the ocean. His captains and lieutenants gathered around him eagerly.

"My Lord Goshen, such a miracle has never been seen by mortal eyes. Victory is already ours!" one of his captains proclaimed absolutely.

"Do not let overconfidence cloud your judgment," Lord Goshen calmly rebuked. "The Shinra have wonders of their own. I have foreseen that this will not be an easy fight." A silence fell among his men, though they continued to escort the lord of Wutai toward his place of honor among the ships "You are all tasked with maintaining the unity and morale of our forces, we must remain as one if we are to stand a chance at winning against this enemy." Lord Goshen's men fell into careful pondering. None of them could possibly imagine what "wonders" their enemies could posses to rival the power that had been displayed before them.

The remaining people of Wutai watched as their warriors entered the ships, and unfurled the sails. The people then prayed silently to their ancestors that the men and women would come home as the army of Wutai sailed into the rising sun.


	2. Chapter 1: Strange Occurrences

The Phoenix Eye

Chapter 1

Strange Occurrences

_-- Somewhere in Wutai, Present Day:_

"It is here Professor Stian" A young man whispered.

"Shhh! Keep your voice down Samuru!" the professor hissed back emphatically as he strode briskly across the room. "Do you want us to get caught?"

"It was your idea to break into a noble house in a land known for ninja assassins!" Samuru quietly replied. It annoyed him that the professor repeatedly chastised him for his noisiness, even thought the aging scientist made a much larger ruckus.

"Well?" the professor demanded impatiently, his voice no longer quite a whisper.

"Here." Samuru gestured towards a drawer to his left. The professor clicked on a small flashlight in his hand and directed the light to the drawer before him, his eyes widening in satisfaction.

"At last the Sword of House Kisaragi! And eighteen years after the death of Lord Goshen, here I am looking at the ancient blade." Professor Stian reached down carefully and withdrew the sword and scabbard from its resting place. "Such a valuable artifact, a piece of history itself! I am surprised they did not lock it up."

"They did lock it." Samuru informed his colleague. Professor Stian targeted his flashlight to Samuru's face, blinding him temporarily. But Samuru did not need to see his compatriot to know he was annoyed.

"Since when do you pick locks?" the professor demanded.

"Ever since I found an employer who insists on breaking and entering for archeological purposes." Samuru replied, a hint of mirth breaking through his hushed whisper. "Couldn't you have just asked for permission to see it, or do you actually plan to take it."

"I am not a thief Samuru!" the professor replied menacingly. "It is just that they never would have allowed me to conduct my experiment if I had come here under guard escort." Samuru raised his eyebrow in curiosity, but the professor's light had returned to the sword and he didn't see Samuru's expression.

"What experiment did you have in mind professor?" Samuru gently queried.

"Let me see…" The professor began, his hands feeling carefully around the grip of the sword. "It started as I was translating the inscriptions in the caves up in the Da-Chao Mountains last year. You see, the ancient people of Wutai documented their history in pictograms before the eastern people met them and introduced them to modern writing techniques…" the professor's hands continued to move around the handle as if feeling for something the professor couldn't see. "The writings on how this sword was made were… cryptic, to say the least. But, ah… here it is!" The professor's face light up like a child with a new toy. "It's under the wrapping" he said under his breath, his fingers beginning to tug frantically at the delicate woven fabric.

"Here, professor! Give it to me, you'll damage it." Samuru said while taking the sword from the professor's shaky hands. With skill, he quickly unfastened the base of the sword grip and began unraveling the silk cords woven around the handle.

"How do you know how to do that? It's as if you studied Wutaian sword construction." Professor Stian asked in befuddlement.

"I'm just skilled with my hands." the young man replied calmly. "That is what you pay me for, you handle the science, and I handle everything else, right?" The answer seemed to calm the professor, and by this time the woven grip had been almost completely removed. The professor stretched his hand towards the sword.

"That should be enough, look for something protruding around here." the professor said, indicating the upper portion of the grip. Samuru examined the handle carefully; there was something different about it. While most Wutaian blades contained one solid piece of steel that stretched from hilt to sword tip, this handle seemed to be composed of several interlocking pieces, and it was hollow as well. Samuru's hand slid over a rough spot that seemed to be a different material.

"Yes, professor Stian, there appears to be an object inside the handle. Part of it is protruding right here." Samuru indicated.

"I knew it!" the professor exclaimed ecstatically, before clamping his hand to his mouth in alarm. He had spoken way too loud. The two of them froze, listening for the sounds of the guards coming to take them away, or perhaps simply put them to death. They waited long moments, before beginning to relax, determined that the sudden outburst had indeed gone unnoticed. "Samuru?" the professor asked tentatively, the quietest he had been all evening. "Do you think you can get it out?" Samuru did not reply, but began testing the components of the handle for a way to extricate its contents. Several long minutes went by and Professor Stian began wringing his hands in anticipation. Another moment passed before Samuru finally found the small switch that would grant access to whatever mystery they were seeking. He had to use his jack knife to reach the small pin and slide in into the correct position, before flipping open the sword's secret compartment and dumping a small black object into his open palm.

The professor literally jumped with excitement and had to clap his hand over his mouth again to prevent another outburst. Samuru held up his prize in between them, the light from the professor's flash light dancing over the glistening black surface.

"It looks like obsidian." Samuru offered subjectively.

"Yes it is." the professor confirmed. "And in the rough too, I would have thought they would polish it up a bit… unless of course it is a decoy." The professor's eyes narrowed. "Quick Samuru, bring me my bag!" The young man responded quickly, now holding the stone and the sword in the same hand, he crossed the room and returned bringing Professor Stian his bag. Dust filled the air as the professor tore open the bag and began sifting through its contents. No matter how often Samuru had cleaned the bag it always seemed to have more dust left over from the many excursions and archeological expeditions the profession engaged in. The exact inventory of the professor's bag changed so frequently that it always took the professor several moments to retrieve anything he had previously surrendered to its depths. Samuru passed the time by remembering the few permanent inhabitants, books penned by the professor himself in a print almost too small to read.

Several items were now being extricated from the bag's clutches and found themselves being placed on a nearby table, ironically already occupied by several priceless looking heirlooms of whoever owned this house. Samuru examined the items with curious fascination: a stop watch, an electrical stunner, and a small cage holding a single brown and white mouse.

"So…" Samuru began. "What are those for?"

"To test a theory." the professor replied. "To make sure we have the real deal." The professor opened the cage carefully, making sure that the mouse wasn't going to try to escape. He then grabbed the stop watch with his left hand while holding the stunner in his right. He adjusted the dial on the stunner with his thumb and then extended the apparatus towards the unsuspecting mouse. A pop was heard as the stunner connected; the mouse stiffened, and then rolled over dead. The professor clicked the stop watch at the same time.

"I don't understand…" Samuru stated slowly, "What are we testing with this?"

"Simple, a phoenix down or a revive materia can restore a dead creature to life right?" Samuru nodded in agreement. The professor continued. "But only if you use it within 30 seconds of the time of death. This however," the professor said gesturing to the obsidian rock in Samuru's hand. "If my theory is correct, if this can restore life beyond 30 seconds, then we will know it is not a fake or a farce." The professor clicked his stop watch, an expression of satisfaction spreading over his face. "That's enough time Samuru, give me the rock."

Samuru obediently passed over the small object to his employer, the stone strangely seeming heavier than it had been a moment before. Samuru watched intently as Professor Stian held the piece of obsidian in his hand, focusing his full concentration on the lifeless mouse before him. A leg twitched, the corpse seemed to relax. and then in a moment it was not a corpse at all but a live mouse again, wandering the cage with curiosity, wondering when next it was going to be fed. The professor jumped in the air and clamped his hand to his mouth again, almost failing to suppress the giggle of success that threatened to unleash itself onto the unsuspecting silence.

"We've done it Samuru, we've done it!" the professor cried with exuberance. "Let's gather our stuff quickly, the Wutaians must know about this!" With hands trembling in excitement Professor Stian began hastily returning his effects to his bag, but stopped suddenly and he heard the distinctive sound of metal sliding against metal.

"Samuru, what are you do…" the professor's voice caught in his through, the air that sustained it having stopped abruptly. Samuru was looking at him with a strange expression on his face, his hand extended towards the professor. The professor wrinkled his brow in confusion, and then looked down to Samuru's hand. The legendary Sword of House Kisaragi stood protruding from the professors chest, its handle still partially disassembled, the silken cords still unraveled, and Samuru's hand clasped to it in a vice-like grip as blood began to extend along the polished blade. The professor's eyes snapped up in shock and betrayal.

"I am sorry professor." Samuru stated calmly. "Consider this my notice of resignation." Professor Stian's mouth spasmed open and closed, as if trying to say something despite the refusal of his injured lungs to draw breath. The professor's eyes slid back into his eyelids and his limbs began to go limp. Quickly Samuru snaked his hand to the small of the professor's back, slowing his descent. Gently and silently Samuru lowered the dying professor to the ground, in much the same way that a mother would lay her newborn child down to sleep for the night.

Samuru then knelt beside the late Professor Stian and cleaned the blood from the sword on the professor's own pant leg, before efficiently reconstructed the sword's hilt and handle to a perfect reproduction of its original state. Except for a small black piece of obsidian tucked carefully in the murderer's pocket. Samuru meticulously re-examined his work, until he was confident that none would suspect the hidden compartment. Finally satisfied, Samuru returned the sword to its sheath, and placed it carefully back in the drawer it had been removed from. He then grabbed the professor's dusty bag from the table and strode soundlessly from the room.

--------------------

_-- City of Midgar, Sector 4, Some Time After:_

"Hey Cloud how about this one?" a young man called out, pointing to a gnarled and twisted pipe. Cloud picked his way through the debris to where his coworker was standing. Cloud reached forth his hand and gripped the pipe firmly, his hand not quite stretching all the way around. He gave a firm tug at the mass of pipe protruding from the pile of dust and concrete, and while it did bend toward him, it refused to dislodge itself from the heterogeneous mass.

"Looks like there is a lot of it under here" Cloud said aloud, half to himself and half to his observing companion. "That's good, this looks like a thirty percent alloy and we can always use more copper. Tell the boys to dig it up, with any luck we'll get all the materials we need before the day is done." Cloud then stepped back and stretched his arms above his head. Pausing a moment from his work he glanced around at the other men with him. A dozen or so men wearing hardhats and air filters were scattered across the wreckage that was once sector seven. There was also an assortment of large construction vehicles here to aid in salvaging anything that could be turned into new building materials.

Cloud knew this place was dangerous. He knew the hardhats were not just for falling debris, and the face masks did more than filter out dust. Midgar had been completely evacuated for several years due to the strange illnesses that had begun spreading among the populous. Most people blamed Shinra's mako reactors for poisoning the land by sucking its spiritual energy from the ground. Cloud, however, had always suspected that there was more to the strange illnesses than just the life draining reactors. After all, Shinra had built reactors in many other locations, and while the machines churned out energy to fill the Shinra's pockets at the expense of the planet itself, this strange epidemic had not been one of the side effects.

Cloud's mind returned from its wandering back to the task at hand. Regardless of the reasons behind the disease, the subsequent evacuation of Midgar was the cause of his current employment. Demand for new housing was at an all time high, Midgar having previously been the most populous city in the known history of the world, and its displaced citizens were most desperate for adequate accommodations. Cloud felt something firm under his feat. He stooped down and fished his hand through the crumbled concrete to pull out a small chunk of twisted steel. With a flick of his wrist he chucked it three hundred yards into the nearest dump truck. This was his life now; constructing houses as fast as possible and salvaging building materials when the imports failed to meet the demand.

Clouds sensitive ears picked up a muffled sound of grating metal. It was a significant distance off but his instincts screamed danger. His mind instantly turned towards the safety of his co-workers, spread out distantly across the ruined section of the deserted city.

He heard the sound again and his eyes focused on the source. Five hundred yards distant the foreman was supervising their crane lifting a large extension of steel beams out from a fissure in the ground. Behind the foreman, twisted remnants of a forgotten highway curled in on themselves like an abandoned rope. Caught between to cement pillars was the wreckage of a massive multi-axeled transport truck lay jutting out over the fissure at an odd angle. The foreman had one hand gripped on the door of the truck, using it as an anchor to lean out over the fissure, getting a better view of the wreckage the crane was extricating.

This was bad. The sound had come from the truck. Cloud began to run. "Foreman Johnson that truck is not stable!" Cloud screamed in warning. The foreman looked up, his weight shifting slightly, and the sound came again, longer this time, and loud enough for the foreman and the rest of the company to hear it clearly. The old truck pitched forward a few feet, dragging the foreman along with it. He lost his footing, and barely managed to avoid plummeting down the chasm by grabbing a small cement outcropping a few feet lower than the one he had previously been standing on.

The foreman panicked, his feet digging at the cliff wall for a foot hold. "Somebody help me!" he screeched in desperation.

Several men rushed towards the ravine to extricate their supervisor. The truck groaned again metal scraping against metal as it slipped forward a few more ominous inches. The workers froze, immediately seeing the danger. Anyone caught on that cement shelf when the truck decided to fall would be crushed, the foreman included. Another sound then caught the worker's attention. A pile of rubble exploded as Cloud burst through it. It had only been a few seconds, but already Cloud had covered over three hundred yards, running as only an enhanced being could run.

The truck shuddered and groaned and slid a few more inches towards the chasm. "Help me! Please help me!" the foreman screamed in terrified frustration. The men turned back pleadingly towards Cloud, only to find him practically on top of them. They sprang back reflexively, the wind of his passing nearly knocking them to the ground. The truck groaned again and began sliding, but Cloud was there in an instant. His feet planted themselves firmly on the cement shelf the foreman clung to, his hands clamping the underbelly of the truck in a vice-grip that creased the metal. The truck rumbled loudly; cement grinding and metal popping, seemingly angry that it was being kept from its prey. Then as quickly as it had begun, it stopped. The metal titan lay still, perched atop Cloud's Atlas grasp.

"Quick, get him out of here!" Cloud commanded his dumbfounded co-workers. They sprang into action at once, clasping hand to wrist to extend a human rescue line to their wayward foreman. With trained speed and efficiency they pulled the foreman to safety and out from under the threat of the hanging truck. Cloud ducked forward slightly, and with another complaint the truck began sliding again. Cloud shifted one of his hands further up the trucks belly, pulling it, guiding it. With a final Herculean effort Cloud shoved at the truck, launching it safely over his head to crash into the chasm below.

Cloud sank back against the cliff face panting hard. Gently he stretched his whitened knuckles, already stiff from his stunt. Silence reigned for a moment, and then the gathered men began clapping. Cloud smiled and jumped from the precipice to the safe ground where his coworkers had congregated. Hands clapped against his back in camaraderie while the foreman surged forward to shake his hand.

"Thanks Cloud, I owe you one." the man said with tears budding from his eyes.

"Anytime." Cloud said simply.

"That was amazing!" another man exclaimed, "I never imagined you could bench a truck that size!"

"That wasn't quite a bench press." Cloud corrected the man. "That was more like me guiding its fall. Besides, that big truck must have weighed at least ten tons, and I've never benched more than four and a half." A low whistle sounded through the crowd.

"Hey guys, come look at this." a voice called to the group. The men turned towards the sound of the voice; one of the workers was standing by the edge of the cliff looking down. Feet approached the chasm cautiously, while eyes looked on eagerly for the source of the excitement. "There." the first man indicated with an outstretched hand. "Something down there is glowing." Silence spread among the group, they could all see it.

"I can't make anything out." another man complained. "Cloud, can you see what it is?"

"Yes." Cloud affirmed. "It's coming from the truck I threw down there, but I can't tell anything beyond that."

"That's the color of mako glow, isn't it Cloud?" the foreman queried.

"Yes." Cloud stated. "I should probably go check it out." Several of the men had the urge to tell Cloud to be careful, but the words just didn't seem appropriate after the near god-like spectacle they had been privy to a few moments before. Cloud jumped down the chasm, falling several stories worth before landing as though it had been a few steps. He walked toward the fallen truck with relaxed confidence, observing the huge gash that tore open its side, spilling green light across the shadowy ravine. A shadow flickered across the ground, Cloud stopped walking. Something inside the truck was moving. Cloud glanced around him for some kind of weapon, and quickly tore a piece of rebar from the concrete beside him.

Three humanoid figures were crawling out of the wreckage, their forms twisted and bent. Black blood oozed from gashes across their bodies and dripped noiselessly to the dusty ravine floor. Of two things Cloud was now certain, first that these things were once human, and second, that they were such no longer. The three figures glanced up noticing Cloud a hiss rang out from between envenomed fangs.

Cloud raised the twisted metal defensively. "I don't want to hurt you."

The monstrosities caught sight of Cloud's makeshift weapon and sprang forward, claws sprouting from their fingertips. Bounding on all fours they hurled themselves at Cloud with lion-like speed. Cloud swung the metal above his head before bringing it cracking down like thunder on the first fiend, splitting its skull. A blur of flesh launched itself at Cloud's exposed side before a booted foot sent the creature flying back into the truck. Cloud continued the flow of his first stroke, bringing the twisted metal in his hand spiraling into the abdomen of his third attacker. The sharpened end of the rebar embedded itself into the tormented flesh, and Cloud released it, allowing its momentum to carry the injured passenger back crashing against the side of the fallen truck. The form collapsed, clutching its punctured chest. Cloud's eyes flickered to the lifeless form with the ruptured skull beside him, and then to the rising creature he had kicked away, the only survivor of his three attackers.

"You can't beat me." Cloud informed it, though somewhere in his mind he knew it could not understand him.

The monster looked down to its impaled comrade, then to Cloud, and finally back to the crumpled body beside it. Without warning the lone figure flung itself at the corpse, ripping the rebar from its chest, and spraying black blood across the chasm wall. Cloud tensed himself to fight, but his eyes quickly changed from determination to shock as the creature plunged the warped metal into its own heart. A soft thud sounded as a third corpse fell to the ground to join its brothers. Cloud stood for several moments in disbelief of the display he had just witnessed before a distant voice fished him back from his confusion.

"Everything all right down there Cloud? We heard some noises." the sound drifted down from above.

"Yeah I'm… fine." Cloud replied hesitantly, not sure as to the appropriate words to describe his situation. "I'll be up in a minute."

Cloud walked forward and ducked his head into the belly of the forsaken truck. The smell of escaping mako was thick on the air. The walls and floors were littered with broken pieces of stasis cells, many still attempting to contain the corpses of abominations long since dead. There was nothing more alive in the truck.

A moment later Cloud bounded into view atop the chasm. Eyes stared at him, thirsting for the hidden mysteries they were sure Cloud was about to reveal. Behind them, the men's equipment and vehicles lay abandoned, their purposes forgotten in the suspenseful maelstrom of recent events. Cloud summarized, to the amazement of his comparatively fragile co-workers.

"There all dead, but I think you should call a clean up crew from the WRO anyway." Cloud told the foreman sternly.

"You're probably right Cloud." the foreman responded before calling out to the rest of the men. "All right wrap it up everyone; we're not going to get any more work done today so you might as well all go home early." The men shuffled tiredly out of the city, exhausted from the mental enormity of the days unfolding. "Ok..." the foreman said, his attention now back to Cloud. "Let me buy you lunch, and maybe a drink. It's the least I can do after you saved my life."

"Sure." Cloud said smiling. "But not too late, my wife will be waiting."


	3. Chapter 2: Turning Points

The Phoenix Eye

Chapter 2

Turning Points

_-- The West Sea, North of Rocket Town, 19 Years Ago:_

The night was cloudless. A sliver of the fading moon illuminated the expanse of ocean. On the deck of his ship, leaning over the metal rail, stood the admiral, trusting his sensitive eyes and ears to tell him more of the battle than the electrical instruments back on the bridge. The admiral looked over the not too distant battle raging across the sea in front of him. He would wait, perhaps another thirty minutes, before ordering his small detachment of ships to flank the enemy, cutting off their retreat from the harbor. Gunshots and detonations echoed across the undulating salt water. Arcs of color tore through the night sky as the Wutaian rockets crashed into the steel hides of the admiral's warships. Countless gunshots bore witness to the Shinra fleet's brutal retaliation, the smoke of which was illuminated from time to time by the magical lightning breath of the paper dragons circling over head.

The admiral knew he was going to win this fight, though it would be close. Almost a decade of war with the stubborn Wutaian samurai and the sly Wutaian ninja had taught the admiral not to underestimate the strange nation whose technology had never advanced beyond fireworks and whose strange magics had almost cost Shinra the war in the beginning, back when no one would have believed that those who made swords could overpower those who made guns. But the admiral believed now, for he has seen with his own eyes the power of the Phoenix Eye, that strange ruby pendant that the Wutaian warrior king prayed over. The admiral never would have believed, if he had not seen, that such power could even exist in the world. That statues could move and fight for the Lord of Wutai. That the dead of the battle field could return to life, to fight and die for their country, not once, but two, three, or even dozens of times. Or that even the Shinra's own battle robots, after being fried by lightning or fire, could rise again under the strange red light of the alien ruby, to turn and fight against their former masters.

Soft booted foot steps approached the admiral from behind. He knew instantly who it was; there was only one man who could approach this close to the admiral without drawing attention.

"What is it Lieutenant Sephiroth?" the admiral queried without turning.

"I noticed that some of the dragons have spotted us, and are headed this way." the young man's silky voice supplied. The admiral surpassed a shiver, despite his years of experience with death and terror, the young lieutenant always set his teeth on edge when he spoke. Sephiroth, the admiral mused to himself, was like a monstrous wild predator that could never truly be tamed.

"Yes, I had noticed the dragons too; I was just about to order our guns to shoot them down."

"If you don't mind, admiral," Sephiroth began. "I have something that the Shinra wanted me to test for them, and considering that we have not yet entered the heat of battle, now might be a good opportunity."

"Very well." the admiral responded before reaching for his belt. He pulled a two-way radio from its holster, held the button down, and began talking. "Admiral Claremont to the bridge, I've spotted six dragons closing in on two sixty, over." A moment of static greeted the night at the admiral released the button.

"Bridge to Admiral Claremont, ok we see them now. Shall we take them out? Over."

The admiral sighed exasperatedly at his crew's incompetence. They should have already seen them. "Admiral Claremont to bridge, don't engage yet, we have something new from back home we want to play with. Keep the guns on ready though, and wait for my signal, over." The admiral turned towards Sephiroth for the first time. "So what are we testing, something new from Professor Hojo?"

"Scarlet, actually." Sephiroth supplied. He then withdrew a glowing green orb from somewhere in his strange ensemble and placed it neatly into a socket in his metal arm guard. The admiral looked at the arm piece. It was shoddy, to say the least, as if it had been hastily constructed for the sole purpose of displaying this strange oversized marble.

"What is that piece of crap?" the admiral asked irreverently.

"We are calling it 'materia'" Sephiroth stated. "It is a byproduct of the mako conversion process, and now after several years of research and development, Scarlet's team has turned it into a weapon." Sephiroth walked towards the rail, his eyes staring in the direction of the approaching paper dragons. A few moments passed, until the flapping of the dragon's wings could be heard over the din of the distant battle. Sephiroth then raised his hand skyward, and a stream of angry blue energy shot from his arm.

A dragon fell to the sea, its wings laden with frost, its thin wooden frame cracking and splintering from the expanding ice crystals. The remaining five dragons scattered, swooping and diving in defensive patterns. Sephiroth barraged them with his ice magic time and time again. The paper dragons attempted to evade the deadly spells, but very quickly Lieutenant Sephiroth proved that he was better at aiming than the dragons were at dodging.

It was over, as the last paper dragon sank into the black sea. "Well, that was very… educational." Sephiroth concluded softly. Another chill ran up the admiral's spine. "Thank you Admiral Claremont, that is all I require."

"Wait." the admiral called after the retreating warrior. "We are about to begin an offensive, you should stay on deck and assist."

"I don't think I am going to do that admiral." Sephiroth replied icily.

"That wasn't a request."

"No."

"Why you insubordinate…" the admiral began, trying to contain his rage. "You may be a member of SOLDIER but don't forget that I still outrank you Lieutenant Sephiroth."

"Now let's not loose our temper…" Sephiroth began with a smirk. "There are two things you should think about. Firstly I was only given authorization to test the materia, so I cannot use it further without direct permission from Scarlet or President Shinra. And we both know the materia is the assistance you were talking about, my melee skills are just not very useful in naval combat."

"And your second point?" the admiral asked angrily.

"You really should think more about the future admiral. We both know you won't be outranking me for long." With that final statement Sephiroth turned his back on the admiral and strode to the stairs that would take him below deck. The admiral watched Sephiroth leave, and then spat at where he disappeared from view.

"One of these days…" the admiral hissed at the void where Sephiroth had been. "One of these days your cocky overconfidence is going to get you into trouble you can't talk or fight your way out of. And when that happens, I just hope I'm still around to see it."

--------------------

_-- Edge, Present Day:_

Cloud turned the key, and felt the bolt slide back. He opened the door casually and called out "Zack, Aeris." The sound of thumping footsteps replied, and two small figures raced into the room.

"Daddy!" two young voices rang out in unison. Cloud's four-year old son wrapped his arms enthusiastically around his father's legs while Cloud gently, yet effortlessly lifted his almost-two daughter into his arms.

"You're late." a feminine voice stated, lovingly, yet firmly, from across the room.

"Sorry Tifa," Cloud began, smiling at his life's companion. "I had a really weird day at work. We found some mutated monsters, probably Hojo's leftovers, and I ended up saving the foreman's life. He insisted on taking me to lunch as payback."

"Well you'll have to tell me all about it later," Tifa explained, seemingly unsurprised at her husbands summary. "The broadcast is starting in just a moment." Tifa indicated her head in the direction of the next room where their television was located. Without another word Cloud caught Zack's arm with his free hand and followed after Tifa, still clutching Aeris against his chest. The family began settling down on the couch as Tifa found the correct channel. Aeris stubbornly lorded over her favorite spot on her father's lap; her older brother contenting himself to sit on Cloud's left. As young as they were, both children had learned quickly to always save one side of Cloud for their mother.

The Television flicked to the image of a news reporter as Tifa scrambled back to sit by her husband. "Just in time." she said to herself.

"…and now, I give you, Captain Highwind." the reporter announced. The image on the screen shifted to one of the Smiling Captain's face, a lit Cigarette dangling from his mouth.

"This is Captain Cid Highwind reporting from outer space, this beauty behind me is the cockpit of the Ragnarok III space pod, and I am now on the last leg of what is to be the longest space flight ever. So far, everything is going according to plan and…"

"Trust Cid to smuggle cigarettes onto a space flight." Cloud interrupted.

Tifa chuckled softly, but just then a distinct melody floated from her pocket. She withdrew her cell phone quickly, her brow narrowing slightly as she read the number. "Excuse me a minute Cloud." Tifa said as she stood up from the couch and strode into the next room. Cloud tilted his head in her direction, infinitely more interested in his wife that in the space broadcasts he had seen two of before.

"Tifa Strife." She called into the phone. "Oh hi Yuffie, I wasn't expecting your call. Shouldn't you be watching Cid's broadcast… Oh… Oh my!" Cloud frowned; Tifa's tone had changed drastically from one of casualness to tension and concern. "Of course Yuffie, we could be there tomorrow if you want, but I don't understand why you need Cloud… Oh… Oh I see, yes of course. We'll be there as soon as we can…. Don't worry about it Yuffie, Everything will be fine… Same to you. Bye." Cloud heard Tifa's phone snap closed, and her footsteps return in his direction. He quickly turned his head back to the television before his wife could catch him eavesdropping and listened to the last of Cid's broadcast.

"Well it looks like my times about up, so I'm going to end this broadcast like I have all the others; by telling the whole world how much I love my wife Shera and our beautiful daughter Rachael. You two are everything to me. This is Captain Cid, signing off." Tifa's nervous hand rested on Cloud's shoulder as the screen switched back to the reporter, intent on discussing the space ship's progress with some kind of expert seated across from him. Cloud instructed Zack to turn of the television; he could feel the tension radiating from the woman behind him.

"Zack, Aeris, why don't you two go play for a while, your mom and I need to discuss something.

"Ok." Zack responded compliantly, pulling his sister from Cloud's lap. "Come-on Aeris." The little girl jumped down and ran off with her brother. Cloud took a hold of Tifa's hand and guided her around to the spot his daughter had just vacated.

"How do you know we have something to discuss?" Tifa asked suspiciously while sliding into Cloud's lap and draping her arms around his neck.

"Tifa," Cloud began. "You're jitterier than a chocobo in a thunderstorm, what was that phone call about." Tifa sighed sinking back into Cloud's muscled chest and resting her head against his cheek.

"An old scientist was murdered in Yuffie's home," Tifa explained. "She was out of town at the time, most of her guard with her, so security was low." Cloud wrapped his arms a reassuringly around his sweetheart and waited for her to continue. "Reeve's helping with the investigation and that's where the interesting part comes in. They found some skin under the victim's fingernails, probably belonging to the killer, but a test on the skin sample makes it look like whoever did the killing was…" Tifa paused, and when she spoke again, her voice was softer, more concerned; "…was a remnant."

Cloud breathed in sharply at the word. It had been seven years since his battle with the last remnants, Kadaj, Loz, and Yazoo. They were supposedly extinct. "I can see why they would want us down there right away, if this really is a remnant than we…" Cloud trailed off as Tifa leaned away from him and turned her eyes accusingly towards him.

"I hadn't told you yet that they wanted us to go… You were listening in on my phone conversation again weren't you?" Tifa asked smiling.

Cloud was instantly on the defensive. "I can't help it! I have really good hearing."

"You should have been paying attention to Cid's broadcast. You'll hurt his feelings."

"What he doesn't know won't hurt him." Cloud replied dismissively. "Besides, there's a re-run scheduled for later tonight."

Tifa sighed, giving up, and sank back into Cloud's welcoming embrace. "We should probably drop the children off at Mrs. Gainsborough's house later tonight so Marlene can watch them while we're gone." Cloud grunted a soft agreement. "Now, tell me about your 'weird' day at work."

Cloud launched into a detailed explanation of the day's events. Soon the tension brought on by the phone call began to relax; the couple's closeness acting like a drug, dulling the worry and concern the ominous tidings had brought into the peaceful home.


	4. Chapter 3: The Road Ahead

The Phoenix Eye

Chapter 3

The Road Ahead

_-- Corel, Later that Evening:_

The door opened roughly. Large boots thudded heavily against the wooden plank floor. The room bore no indication of wealth or creativity. Everything that was present had a functional reason for its existence. The tall broad shouldered man walked over to a simple cabinet by the door, pulling it open with a firm hand. Inside were an assortment of mechanical constructs, each with a different form and purpose. Some were weapons, some were tools. Barret Wallace quickly unattached his cybernetic "work arm" from where it fastened to his elbow and set it in its place within the cabinet. He then drew out a much simpler, more human looking appendage, better suited for tasks around the house, and flexed the robotic fingers as power flooded through them. The middle aged man then moved towards the kitchen, pausing in route to hit the "on" switch of a small computer in the corner of the room. A few moments later, he returned, a mug of coffee in his hand, the computer already buzzing to life in the dimly lit room.

Barret sat down on a small chair which creaked in complaint at his weight. He pulled a notebook from the drawer of his desk, thumbing through the well used pages for the instructions on how to access his e-mail. His daughter had made these notes for him, insisting that a computer would be the best way to keep in touch while she attended private school down in Kalm. Barret had been overjoyed to have been able to afford to send his adopted daughter to such a nice school, and he had felt even better when Marlene had found a free room so close to his old friends Cloud and Tifa. Tired from his long day of work, the former gunman scanned through his messages, referencing the notebook frequently. It always bugged him a little that he did not have more of a mind for computers. He was not an unintelligent man, but he pacified his ego by claiming that computers simply belonged to a much younger generation.

Just the same as every other day, there was a message from his daughter. He read the e-mail with interest. "Huh…" He said to himself. "Marlene's babysitting again this weekend while Cloud and Tifa are off to Wutai. I wonder what those two are up to." A knock on the door interrupted his thoughts. "It's open." Barret called, turning in his seat. The door opened and a smaller man stepped through. In truth this man was probably above average in height and stature, but Barret had a way of making everyone look small.

"Begging your pardon Mr. Wallace, but the city council told me to give you this as soon as you got home." Barret glanced down at the papers in the man's hand, guessing at once what it was.

"We'll you can tell the council that I am not interested in running for mayor of Corel, and I don't care how many times they ask me." Barret was glaring now, almost feeling sorry for this lackey the council had somehow tricked into relaying messages. "I am a worker or a soldier, I do not sit behind desks pushing papers and looking pretty."

"Mr. Wallace sir, I am not here to issue another "request" on behalf of the City Council." The man breathed. "I am here to inform you that the council has unanimously nominated you for the Mayoral elections. In other words, your name will be on the ballot whether you want it there or not." Barret scowled at the man, who decided he should continue before the fuming giant settled on a course action. "The people of Corel need you, and we all have faith in you Barret." the man said, his voice softer now. "If you don't believe me, read the names on this petition." A stack of papers settled on a small table next to the phone.

"Fine" Barret said finally, still angry, but not wanted to yell at a man who had just paid him a serious complement. "Your message has been delivered, an' I'll think about it. Now get yourself outta-here before I tell you where to shove them papers. I got's a message to read from my daughter." With that Barret turned back to his computer, indicating that his instructions for the man to leave were in full force. The messenger left, his duty fulfilled, as a soft smile began to spread across his face. Barret Wallace would soon be mayor of Corel.

--------------------

_-- City of Wutai, (formerly The Imperial City,) Republic of Wutai, the Next Day:_

Yuffie leaned back against the wall behind her, searching for a way to dismiss the tension that clutched at her heart. It bugged her that she still felt so unnerved by the recent events. She was a warrior, descended from a long line of Samurai and Ninja. She herself had faced death in battle, and yet somehow, someone dying, being murdered in her own home upset her. Yuffie stared at her reflection in the bathroom mirror, trying to calm her nerves so she could return to the next room with a strong face.

The sound of a purring motor wafted to Yuffie's ears, and then cut short. Yuffie would recognize that sound anywhere; Cloud's custom motorcycle, Fenrir. Her friends had arrived. Pulling added strength from this new development Yuffie calmed her emotions and stepped towards the door that would lead her to the room beyond.

Yuffie carefully slid open the wood and paper door, canvassed with delicate looking depictions of mountainous landscapes, and strode across the central meeting area of her palace home which was already occupied. Reeve was there, speaking seriously with several of the Wutaian elders, and Yuffie seated herself near him. With her on the floor and around a small tea table were seven others. They were chatting idly amongst themselves while glancing sideways at her when they thought she wasn't looking. The Elders of Wutai, could she ever get rid of them? Several of their faces studied Yuffie intently, some honestly concerned over how their young leader was coping, others eager for a sign of weakness. Their contemplation was interrupted by a young samurai entering the room, his manor asking for attention, though Yuffie already knew the message he bore.

"Begging your pardon Lord Yuffie." the man began. Yuffie flinched inwardly at the title she despised. "A Mr. and Mrs. Strife have arrived, per your request."

"Show them in please." Yuffie directed. And the man walked away a little flustered. She had always made a point to be polite to her servants, treating them as equals. Some appreciated the effort, while others were simply unnerved. Ether way, Yuffie enjoyed it. Cloud's hard soled boots sounded rhythmically against the floor, his dark clothes and bright armor casting a sharp contrast to the earth tones and painted landscapes of the room he entered. Exactly beside him, Tifa's soft fighting shoes matched his pace in counterpoint, her outfit not as heavy, but just as lacking in color as her husbands. "Hey Cloud, Hey Tifa." Yuffie called out warmly as they approached. "Wow Tifa! Two kids and you still have a great figure."

"Thanks Yuffie." the martial artist said blushing slightly. "You've grown up quite nicely yourself."

"So Yuffie, what do we know about what happened here," Cloud said as he took his seat on the floor by the tea table. He had never been very fond of small talk and many of the Elders present cast each other offended glances. They didn't like how these outsiders talked to their lord so casually, but they knew better than to voice their opinions out loud. Yuffie had been known to rant about how much she disliked the obligatory title "lord" she had inherited from her late father.

"I'll let Reeve fill you in." Yuffie stated, indicating towards her friend seated next to her. Until the arrival of Cloud and Tifa, Reeve had been discussing political relationships with one of the more liberal Wutaian elders. Reeve was dressed in an expertly tailored blue uniform and always kept his short beard neatly trimmed. It was an obvious effort to add an air of maturity to his otherwise youthful face. Though he sometimes enjoyed the fact that his countenance did not reflect his true age, as leader of the World Regenesis Organization, he needed all the appearance of authority he could get.

"Right" Reeve said calmly, acknowledging his queue to explain. "As far as we can tell, two days ago a scientist by the name of Professor Stian and another man broke in to Yuffie's home and commenced a search through her more valuable belongings. Oddly enough, nothing seems to have been taken. The professor was killed using one of the swords in storage, and the professor's assistant, a man by the name of Samuru was seen the same night, leaving town with the professor's belongings. This man, Samuru, is currently our only suspect but nobody knows were he is." Reeve paused his explanation, and passed a piece of paper towards Cloud and Tifa. "This is a sketch of Samuru; apparently he was a bit camera shy, as we found no photos of him."

"Wasn't there something about a skin sample?" Cloud inquired.

"Yes," Reeve confirmed. "We found skin under the professor's finger nails; he probably scratched his assailant during his murder. And the skin sample showed a ninety-eight percent match with that of the remnants we fought seven years ago."

"Ninety-eight percent…" Cloud said while shaking his head. "That's pretty steep. How did you make the match? Is there a chance of an error?"

"Remnants, or Sephiroth clones, whatever you want to call them, have drastically altered DNA patterns due to Jenova's influence." Reeve explained. "We had Shelke crunch all the numbers, and while she admits that the chance for error is always present, she said the evidence is simply too strong for this to be anything other than a remnant."

"Shelke?" Tifa asked in surprise. "Is she here?"

"No." Reeve replied. "She is with Vincent on a mission in the Junon area. But her new uplink allows her to access the world wide network from anywhere." Reeve sighed and chuckled to himself. "I tell you, we will never need a super computer at the WRO as long as I keep Shelke on speed dial."

To the surprise of everyone present the young samurai messenger who had announced Cloud and Tifa swiftly entered the room once again. "Begging your pardon Lord Yuffie, but there is another visitor who requests an immediate audience."

"That's strange." Yuffie said mostly to herself. "Everyone I called for is already here." She turned her attention back to the messenger. "Who is it?"

"His name is Nanaki; I believe you already know him Lord Yuffie?"

"Oh yes of course. Send him in right away. And one more thing…" Yuffie said as the samurai started to withdraw. "Please don't call me "lord" unless you absolutely have to."

"Of course Lor… err," the messenger cut off, realizing his mistake. "Um… I shall send in your guest." he bowed respectfully, flustered by his sudden stuttering, and withdrew from the room. A moment later the lion-like creature known as Nanaki padded softly into the room. Muscles knotted and shifted behind crimson fur. Black serrated claws clicked softly against the polished wooden floor. Scars, trophies of countless battles, displayed themselves across the back and face of the magnificent creature. A long mane of darker rust-brown fur crested from the creature's head to his shoulder blades. Behind the massive hunter, a light emanated from a patch of golden fur peaked on the end of his tail, casting strange shadows in the small room, the supernatural energies that were the warrior's heritage causing the fur to glow like fire.

"I hope I am not intruding too much." Nanaki's soft melodic voice called out. "When I heard that Professor Stian had died, I felt compelled to assist." The Wutaians present found it hard to believe that such a delicate voice, almost feminine, could belong to the mighty warrior before them.

"Did you know the professor?" Reeve asked his old friend as the creature took a seat beside Cloud.

"Yes, well, I knew him better than some." Nanaki began. "He had spent a few years studying in Cosmo Canyon, and that's where I met him. I didn't talk to him much as he mostly kept to his work. He was a self appointed historian and archeologist, from a wealthy family, using his inheritance to fund his own research. Now that he's dead, I really wish I had spent more time getting to know him. Tell me, exactly how did he die? I don't trust the rumors."

Reeve responded first. "He was stabbed in that room over there, evidence indicated that he had broken past security during the night."

"Do we know who did it?" the old warrior pressed.

"Our only suspect is the Professor's assistant Samuru; did you know him as well?"

"Yes, Samuru was with the professor since before I knew them. There always was something… odd, about that boy. But I never would have thought he was capable of murder." Nanaki said softly, his face to the floor.

"Nanaki…" Cloud interrupted. "We found some tissue samples suggesting that whoever killed Professor Stian may have been a remnant, based on what you know of Samuru, could he have been a remnant?"

Nanaki shook his head, his great mane rolling across his neck like long grass, dark in the moonlight, being tossed back and forth by the wind. "I don't think Samuru was a remnant. His hair was black and I would have noticed the slitted mako-green eyes."

It was Tifa who spoke up next. "If Samuru was not a remnant than perhaps it was someone else who killed the professor. Perhaps there was a third person in the room when he died, or maybe Samuru wasn't involved at all." The room was quiet for a moment as the assembled minds attempted to sort out reason amongst the conflicting evidence before them.

"Reeve…" Nanaki began slowly. "You said Professor Stian was stabbed… What was he stabbed with?"

"This." Yuffie answered, pulling an ornate katana from beside her. "The legendary Sword of House Kisaragi. My uncle Goshen was the last warrior to wield this sword in battle, before he died in the war against Shinra. I had been keeping it locked up; in the same place my father had kept it. The lock was picked when we found the professor dead, but the sword had been cleaned and re-sheathed. We almost missed the trace of blood that indicated this to be the weapon that did it." Yuffie sighed to herself. "What kind of sicko breaks into someone's house just to use an ancient sword to kill a guy?"

"Hmm." Nanaki mused to himself. "A sword like that does seem like something that would have caught the professor's attention. He was always interested in old relics."

Cloud spoke up, thinking out loud. "Do you think the professor could have been trying to steal the sword, and maybe the other person was trying to stop him and it escalated into a fatal blow?"

"An interesting theory." Reeve contemplated. "Though there weren't very many signs of a struggle, the professor seems to have been unaware of the attack until after the blow was dealt."

"That doesn't sound right to me." Nanaki stated firmly. "The professor was always a kind man, considerate and trusting. He would give you the shirt off his back as the human saying goes. Though he would occasionally try to bend the rules for the sake of knowledge, I doubt he would have ever stolen. At the most I would assume maybe he wanted to see something that he wouldn't have been able to access other wise. Not take, but look at. Unless of course…" Nanaki suggested, a new idea having just come to mind. "I suppose he could have been lured here by his attacker with some promise of forbidden knowledge."

"I don't see the first one being a possibility." Yuffie explained. "There is nothing in my house that I wouldn't have let him look at."

"And the second idea…" Tifa interjected. "would imply that someone brought the professor here with the intention of killing him, and like Yuffie said, why break into the house of the Lord of Wutai, just to stab someone with a famous sword."

Finally one of the Wutaian elders spoke up tired of being left out of the conversation. "It is apparent that we are missing a piece to this puzzle, the one that connects all the others together. I do not think that we will progress further in this problem until more information is revealed."

"He speaks wisdom." Nanaki agreed. "There is little point in stressing ourselves now; the mystery will reveal itself in time."

"Yes indeed." Reeve chimed in. "Cloud, I do want you to be extra careful though. I called you down here because the last time remnants appeared they targeted you very quickly."

"Right." Cloud nodded. "I'll keep my eyes pealed."

"And another thing Cloud," Reeve continued. "Yuffie seems to be a bit disturbed by all this, I was wondering if it might not be helpful for her to spend some time with old friends."

"Oh that's alright." Yuffie said defensively. "I'm fine really."

"Yuffie," Tifa interjected, realizing that her friend was putting on a good face. "A murder just happened in your home, even if you were away at the time, this is still your "safe zone." It's okay to feel a little upset about this."

"We understand your concern for your friend," one of the Wutaian elders said, failing to conceal a suspicious smirk. "But as the leader of Wutai, Lord Yuffie had certain "duties" which she must attend to…"

Yuffie stood up, glaring at the one who had spoken. "Oh no you don't. You may be able to force me to go out with those snotty trash cans you keep digging up, but you can't stop me from visiting my friends." Tifa noticed the elder pull his hand to his mouth to hide his smile, apparently this was exactly the reaction he had been looking for.

"I don't understand." Cloud said, clueless as usual. "What's the issue?"

Yuffie sighed. "One of my duties as Lord of Wutai it to get married and produce an heir." Yuffie began matter-of-factly. "Now according to my father's law, which he put in place when he formed the Council of Elders, they cannot chose for me who I am going to marry. But what they can do – according to a loophole they found – is force me to 'entertain suitors'" Yuffie said in disgust, emphasizing the phrase by drawing quotation marks in the air with her fingers. "…which basically equates to those old fogey elders forcing me to date whatever snobby brats they can get their hands on."

"Oh." Cloud said simply.

"So yeah," Yuffie continued. "They can't stop me from visiting my friends. Well that is, of course, if you guys don't mind." she said towards Cloud and Tifa. Some of the elders where smiling at their lord's sudden change in attitude, including the one who still had a hand over his mouth to contain his mirth. While others seemed displeased for reasons undisclosed.

"Of Course Yuffie, you're welcome anytime" Tifa said smiling. The gathering didn't last much longer, Reeve promising to keep his forensic scientists looking for clues yet undiscovered, and Yuffie making arrangements to follow Cloud and Tifa's motorcycle with one of her own chocobos. As the meeting dispersed, Tifa hung back a little to corner a certain member of the Wutaian elders she wanted to talk to. "You got Yuffie mad on purpose so she would come with us didn't you?" Tifa accused as soon as she got the elder alone.

"Yes." the elder admitted. "She is too proud to admit that the murder disturbed her, and the other elders really are too hard on her sometimes." The old man smiled pleasantly at Tifa. "Despite the great responsibility she bears – and bears well mind you – She is still young in many ways and needs room to breathe from time to time."

"Well thank you." Tifa responded. "If she ever needs more breathing room again just call, and Cloud and I will come kidnap her for you."

The elder laughed. "I'll hold you to that promise. Good travels to you and your husband Mrs. Strife."


	5. Chapter 4: Treachery

The Phoenix Eye

Chapter 4

Treachery

_-- Fifteen Miles East of Gongaga, 18 Years Ago:_

The machine gun split in two, spilling mangled bullets into the blood-soaked grass. The man behind the gun gasped, his eyes widening in shock before Lord Goshen tossed him aside, pulling his sword free of the man's gut. The sounds of battle echoed across the nearby Junon Mountains, the cacophony testifying to the struggle for dominance between humans, constructs and machines. The old warrior king looked around him, and finding no immediate opponents, took a moment to appraise the course of the battle. His men still had the upper hand in numbers; not even including the animated constructs that fought by his command. Nevertheless, the Shinra were fighting harder this day than they had previously. The old lord of Wutai was unsure if it was confidence or desperation that drove his enemy, and he didn't care so long as he won.

Lord Goshen's warrior instincts pulled him from his observations. He spun to face the danger, and almost laughed. Standing across a small clearing, free from the fray of battle around them, stood a young man. Dressed from head to toe in black leather cut more for style than function, his silver hair contrasting both to his dark ensemble and his youthful countenance. The boy before Lord Goshen appeared to be no more than nineteen. The only indications that this was a warrior were the steel pauldrons adorning his shoulders, and the blood stained katana held casually in his hand.

Two things kept Lord Goshen from dismissing this prospective opponent; first his warrior intuition nagged him that this young lad was somehow dangerous, and second, he noticed that the boy's sword was the only part of his ensemble that bore a hint of blood. Goshen raised his sword to the boy in readiness, gazing into his strange green eyes for any hint of his intentions. The young man before him returned his gaze so fiercely that the old lord himself was surprised. The boy smiled.

"Who are you?" Lord Goshen called out in curiosity.

"My name is General Sephiroth." the dark figure replied softly.

Lord Goshen was again surprised, and pressed the conversation further. "You appear too young to be a general. And if you are of the Shinra, why do you use a Wutaian blade?"

"So many questions…" Sephiroth responded, as he began to circle his selected opponent. "I am young for a General, the youngest to date. And I find your katanas suit my fighting style. I could use a longer sword, if such blades existed…" Sephiroth spiraled closer to the warrior king, grasping his sword handle firmly and pulling it behind him, level to the ground.

"Are you sure you want to tangle with me young general?" Lord Goshen warned his opponent. "I recognize your stance and know the fighting styles that use it, it lacks defense. Call off your men and I won't pursue you. And perhaps you will live to learn a better technique."

The young general laughed. And though Lord Goshen had fought this war for over ten years without once fearing for his own death, something about this boy's laugh set his teeth on edge. He realized in that moment, that the creature before him was not entirely human. An old tale suddenly came to Lord Goshen's mind. A story passed down through the generations, of an ancient evil descending from the skies, determined on destroying all life on the planet. He remembered that the fiend had come in the form of a woman, distinguishable only by her slitted green eyes. Slitted eyes, like a snake's. Slitted green eyes, just like the eyes of the warrior before him.

"No Goshen," Sephiroth replied coolly, intentionally omitting his formal title. "I will be giving the ultimatums today. You will give me the Phoenix eye, and maybe I will let you and your people surrender, so that you and your perverse nation will some day see the glory that Shinra will become."

Lord Goshen tensed protectively at the mention of his family relic. The Phoenix Eye. So that was what this demon was after. "Neither you nor Shinra shall ever claim the relic of my ancestors." the old warrior announced with regal confidence.

"I was hoping you would say that." Sephiroth replied grinning.

Sephiroth closed the distance between them impossibly fast and Lord Goshen parried the first attack before he saw it, his battle reflexes responding to the intentions of his opponent. The old samurai instantly knew why the Shinra general fought with a style so imbalanced to the offensive; he simply did not need defense. Lord Goshen spun and whirled, moving his feet as fast as possible to keep the young general in view. Sephiroth's attacks were simply too fast to follow without reading the intentions in his glowing green eyes. A hundred times and more the lightning fast blade grazed Lord Goshen's armor, his own sword catching it an instant before it twisted under the plates of his armor and into the warm blood-pulsing flesh beneath.

Lord Goshen kept his eyes on the green serpentine slits before him, everything else becoming a blur of silver and black. Every moment was a struggle against impending death. No sooner had the old lord evaded one attempt on his life, when another deathblow surged in like an ocean wave on top of the first. The old lord of Wutai, felt his strength waning. He was not as young a warrior as he once was, and the monstrosity before him did not seem to tire. In that moment, the old lord accepted that he was going to die. Peace settled upon the samurai's mind as he formulated his plan of action. He fought with renewed vigor, parrying, waiting for his opponent to make the right attack.

The thrust he wanted came, and the old lord let his opponent's katana slide through his left shoulder. His hand grabbed the sword in an instant, preventing the young general from pulling it out of him, and the old samurai sliced down at Sephiroth with an attack of his own. Sephiroth dodged neatly, jumping backwards with a flip. Lord Goshen tore his enemy's blade from his flesh and armor and launched it through the air at the smiling warrior. Another quick backwards jump found Sephiroth sailing through the air at seemingly impossible heights, only to land next to where his blade had settled.

Sephiroth laughed. "So you think that choosing your wound will save you? You think I cannot fight without my sword?" The general leaned down to retrieve his blade from where Lord Goshen had thrown it.

"No, you naïve monster," Lord Goshen whispered, his breath quickened by the fight and by his rapidly diminishing blood supply. "You will kill me, but you will not have the Phoenix eye." In punctuation of his claim the old lord ripped the ruby pendant from around his neck with the remaining strength of his punctured left arm and slammed the gold phoenix onto a nearby rock. In the same motion the doomed samurai raised his ancestral katana with his right hand, preparing for the downward strike that would destroy the coveted artifact.

Sephiroth's smile vanished. With lightning speed he crossed the short distance between himself and the old king, watching the warrior's blade descend towards his claimed trophy. As soon as he was close enough for his sword to reach, Sephiroth launched his most powerful attack. The tip of the general's katana swung up at the old samurai, catching the aged figure under the rib cage, and cutting upwards through armor bone and flesh. The sword exited at the old lord's collarbone, clipping his helmet as it passed. The force of the attack threw Lord Goshen backwards through the air, but Sephiroth pursued and continued his offensive. The old warrior's heart beat its final beat, and was then severed in two. Sephiroth watched as both halves of the former king of Wutai settled in a misshapen mass on the ground before him.

A moment passed, and Sephiroth looked back to a certain rock sitting beside him. It had been cleaved in two, the Sword of House Kisaragi buried in the dirt beneath it. To one side lay two halves of a gold Phoenix along with a broken chain. And scattered all around were hundreds of tiny fragments of ruby crystal, glittering softly in the sun. To the general's side, another samurai cried in rage at seeing the warrior king disposed. The samurai charged, and Sephiroth dispatched him without even taking his eyes from the two halves of the rock before him.

A Shinra officer approached the young warrior. "General Sephiroth sir. The enemy's animated constructs have suddenly stopped, and the men are now pressing their advantage. What are your orders sir?" The man stood at eager attention, but for a moment, Sephiroth did not respond.

"Find a containment kit captain," the general began slowly. "And gather every piece of crystal from the ground right here. Take the gold and the chain too, don't miss a single piece." Sephiroth raised his eyes to burn the importance of this task into the man before him. "Then I want you to take the pieces to Shinra headquarters so they can study what is left of its magic."

"Sir! Yes sir!" the captain saluted. "And about the troops sir?"

"The troops…" Sephiroth clenched his fist in anger. "Tell the troops that today, we take no prisoners."

--------------------

_-- Somewhere North of Nebelhiem, Present Day:_

"My parents will send the whole town looking for me if I don't return before dinner time." the young boy threatened. There was no response. The man continued working in the next room as if nothing had been said. The boy struggled against the ropes restraining him, but his effort proved futile. This strange man who had brought him here against his will had tied the ropes extremely well. For all his efforts to free himself the young boy only seemed to have made his bonds tighter, and he was now loosing feeling in his left hand.

The boy looked around him, taking stock of his surroundings. He was tied to a large pipe, more than twice his own width, running from floor to ceiling. Around him were scores of more pipes running in all directions, punctuated at intervals by countless valves and pressure gauges. Below his feet, a steel grate catwalk provided the only indication that this inhospitable maze of tubing had ever been intended for human presence. Even if he had not watched where he was being carried, the boy would have known that this was the inside of a mako reactor.

The sound of footsteps caught the boy's attention, and he looked up into the approaching face of his kidnapper. He was a strange man, dressed in a dusty brown leather jacket and well worn jeans. The boy had watched this man for hours as he came in and out of the room, tirelessly ferrying odds and ends of contorted metal components. The kidnapped boy had noted how the man's strange hair was silver white at the roots, but changed quickly to black, as if he dyed his hair but had been neglecting it for a few weeks. The strangest part about the boy's kidnapper, however, was his eyes. Brown eyes, flecked with scattered splotches of glowing green. These eyes now stared down at the young boy tied to the pipe.

In all this time, the boy's kidnapper had not paid him any attention. Had he said something now to anger the man? "They will come looking for me." the boy nearly whispered, intimidated by the figure before him. "They will come for me and you won't get away with this."

The man laughed. "I do hope you're right kid. I'm counting on them finding you before you die. Though I will be long gone by the time they do."

"What do you want from me" the boy asked angrily.

"I am finished here. I have found the things I need. Those people down in Nebelhiem will come up into the mountains to find you. And when they do you will give them my message."

"Why don't you give them the message yourself?"

"Oh no," them man said softer now, leaning down to the level of the young boy. "I must be on my way long before this message is delivered. You will tell the one known as Cloud Strife that his days are numbered."

"Cloud?" the boy asked in confusion. "But he doesn't even live here anymore. How am I supposed to tell him anything?"

"Don't fret young one." the kidnapper reassured as he stood and began walking away. "I am confident Cloud will receive this message."

The man walked away. There was a sound of a metal door creaking open, and then closing. The boy sagged against the pipe behind him. With a pop, the lights in the old reactor turned off, flooding the room with darkness. The boy realized that it was almost dinner time now, and his family would be worried when he didn't return. He thought of his parents, and the whole town searching for him. Everyone knew that the abandoned Nebelhiem reactor was completely off limits, and the boy wondered to himself how long it would take before they thought to look here. Hours? Days? Weeks…? The boy struggled to remain strong, but the tears came anyway. After all, there was no one to see.


	6. Chapter 5: Those Who Fight

The Phoenix Eye

Chapter 5

Those Who Fight

_-- Greater Junon Area, Three Days Later:_

"…"

Vincent stared off at the horizon. The tattered red cloak he wore swayed softly as the gentle breeze caressed his unflinching form, bringing with it the sweet cool aroma of wildflowers mixed with pine bark. With the morning sun less than an hour away from rising, the eastern peaks of the Junon Mountains burned like fire, and the earliest risers of the woodland creatures were beginning to stir. Vincent took in all of these things with no outward sign of interest or appreciation. Motionlessly, he took in all the signs of life around him, giving none himself. Except for his blood red eyes, smoldering like ever-burning embers behind his cool facade. The gunman searched for his prey, but the only creature of interest within the limits of his senses was the young looking girl behind him.

"Analysis complete." Shelke stated. "This dropping did come from the target."

Vincent turned to acknowledge the report. The dainty female figure walked straight and business-like to stand next to the tall gunman. In appearance, Shelke and Vincent were quite contrasted. On the left stood Vincent Valentine, former Turk and expert marksman. Everything about the man from his unkempt hair and clothing to the iron set of his jaw radiated animal intelligence and feral power. His hard muscles were clearly visible beneath the dark leather he wore over his entire body. And these were not the muscles of an athlete or weight lifter. These were the muscles of a predator, fast and unpredictable. Adding more to the air of danger was a large clawed gauntlet covering the man's left hand and forearm, as well as a heavy set gun holstered loosely at his right hip, the leather soft and broken in from repeated use.

To the man's right stood Shelke, a small girl little more than half the man's height. Shimmering red-brown hair bounced playfully as she walked, the short cut of which forming a perfect half-moon curve out from her cheek bones. Her attire seemed casual, consisting of a t-shirt, denim jacket, and cut-off jeans. White socks sloped into almost-new looking hiking boots, which graced the ground without seeming to leave a trail. The only deviations from the "innocent girl" ensemble was a canvas utility pack she wore over her left hip, and a pair of fighting blades draped carefully at her right. Shelke stood beside her partner in the body of a nine-year-old girl, though she herself had been "nine years old" for well over a decade.

"How fresh is the trail?" Vincent inquired of his companion as she returned an electronic apparatus to her pack.

"Only a few hours old" the child-like voice responded. "We can catch it today if we don't make any mistakes."

"Good." he responded simply. Vincent had the small urge to feel sorry for the girl who would never grow up, physically at least. But he suppressed the feeling as he always did. Sometimes he felt guilty for doing this, that perhaps she needed a shoulder to cry on or simply a friendly listening ear. But there were many other operatives in the WRO who felt sorry for Shelke, and she had never requested to work with them as she did with Vincent. Perhaps she wanted to forget that she was supposed to be anything else than what she was. Perhaps she took comfort in the fact that Vincent Valentine, like herself, would never age.

"Let's go" the girl commanded, and without another word the pair began following the signs of their quarry out of the grasslands and into the forested foothills. The trail was not hard to track at first. All the data they had received on the creature indicated that it was an overgrown specimen of the nerosuferoth species. This strain was an indigenous dog-like animal, whose omnivorous diet usually consisted of berries, parov bark, and carrion. The species was known, however, to kill live prey in times of little food. But the particular nerosuferoth they were now tracking was far from the usual. Somehow the creature had attained a size many times larger than the average full grown adult of its species. Seemingly not content to dominate its own kind, the aberration had taken it upon itself to terrorize villages and travelers all across the mountain range, evading local hunting parties with uncanny ease. It had been known to swim upstream when dodging hunters, rather than downstream as most animals did to hide their scent. It attacked hunting dogs that got too close only to turn and flee again before the men with guns could get a clear shot. It doubled back on its own trail many times, sometimes crossing the paths the hunters had been on only moments before.

But Vincent and Shelke had advantages in a hunt that any sportsman or hunting dog would envy. They would succeed where all others had failed.

The morning breeze suddenly shifted, putting the hunters momentarily upwind of their prey. "In a moment it will catch our scent," Shelke stated. "We should quicken our pace."

The gunman nodded, breaking into a steady lope. Shelke swung her hip pack around to her back and matched speed with Vincent, her legs pumping in double time to his long strides. Only a few moments passed before the trail began to turn erratically. The creature had indeed caught their scent, and it had been very close by at the time. Vincent turned suddenly to the left, then to the right, and then left again. Shelke strained her mako green eyes to follow the details that caused her partner to repeatedly change course. A broken branch, moss scraped from a rock. Though her augmented vision could catch in an instant the amount of detail a normal man could not absorb in an hour, she still was not as good at this as her friend.

A twig snapped in the distance, barely audible to someone standing right next to it. But the heads of two hunters turned towards the sound, as they changed their course slightly to match the new direction. They left the trail, they did not need it. They could now hear their prey.

"Go." Shelke told her comrade, her breath calm and even despite their run. "Head the creature off, I'll be right behind you."

Without needing to respond the cloaked figure quickened his pace, pulling away from the girl behind him. Vincent concentrated inwardly, drawing upon forbidden powers, as the forest darkened around him in response to the negative energy. As he felt the energies climax inside of him, the dark figure leaped into the air. With supernatural strength and speed Vincent managed to clear the treetops as dark essence burst from his back. In an instant, the matter and substance of his cloak and the backs of his clothing merged with the coalescing darkness surrounding him, drawing additional material as needed from the surrounding air, until gray scaly wings had formed stretching from beneath his shoulder blades.

Vincent arrested the blackness inside him. He could transform into the full demon later if the impending battle required it, but for now, he only needed the wings. The half transformed hybrid dipped down slightly, sagging against his newly formed demonic wings as the upwards momentum of his initial jump was lost. A few quick down strokes of the massive wings, however, brought more than enough height and speed. Vincent opened his ears once again, as the not-quite-so-natural high of his transformation faded from his mind. Behind him he heard Shelke, following the trail with only slightly more difficulty than he had. And ahead of him, and a bit to the right, was their target. He could not just hear her now, but smell her as well. And yes, the animal they were chasing was female. Something primal in the demonic aspect could recognize the subtle flavor of the feminine scent.

Vincent zeroed in on his prey, listening to the movements beneath him and anticipating the animal's next move. Several times the hunter had to check himself, however, as the fleeing abomination acted counter-intuitively to what Vincent expected. The chase continued through a few clumps of tight-knit trees and over a small stream before the flying gunman finally caught up to his target. This nerosuferoth was indeed a very large specimen. Swiftly and silently the demonic figure descended on the running creature like a vast nightmare-spawned bird of prey. Instinctively the animal flinched to the side at the last moment, leaving Vincent nothing but hard dirt to break his fall. Blindingly fast, the hunter spread his wings and flipped in mid-air, bringing his feet beneath him and landing in a run beside the overgrown animal.

The creature recoiled away from him into the forest. In an instant Vincent's custom gun Cerberus was in his hand and five shots in rapid succession ripped through the foliage in the direction of the retreating creature. Some of the bullets found their mark, and Vincent hoped it would be enough to slow the monster down. The gunman took off running into the forest once again, letting his demonic wings fade from his back so that the added weight would not hinder his speed. His tattered red cloak instantly returned, flapping in the wind of the chase as if it had never left.

As the hunter approached his quarry a second time he cut to the creature's right flank, hoping to force it back towards his approaching partner Shelke. Vincent attacked, expecting the beast to retreat as it had done before. But this creature had not survived this long by doing what was expected, and at the instant of the hunter's onslaught the nerosuferoth turned towards its attacker and lowered its head in a bull charge. Vincent braced his right arm defensively, but kept his left in full attack swing. The creature slammed her engine block-sized skull full force into Vincent as his clawed gauntlet raked across her left eye and down her muzzle. The hunter sailed backwards, spiraling through the air before crashing through a young tree, splintering it into thousands of pieces. Vincent sprang to his feet, ready for the animal's next attack, but the creature simply ran, directly away from where Shelke was approaching. The gunman's eyes narrowed in comprehension. It had recognized that he was trying to herd it.

A few moments later the creature was again confronted by her determined pursuer. But this time Vincent did not attack, but feinted. Dodging back and forth the hunter kept up a flurry of would-be blows, forcing the monster to the defensive. Many times the creature tried to retaliate, only to find the red-cloaked figure springing nimbly just out of range. Many times the cornered nerosuferoth dropped her guard and attempted to flee, only to find Vincent's metal boot slamming into her jaw into the ground or nearby trees, turning her aside from her intended escape. The nerosuferoth knew she was cornered, but there was nothing she could do about it.

A few moments later Shelke arrived, her calm youthful face showing no signs of fatigue from the long fast chase. Instantly the two partners fell into opposing circles, mirroring each other's movements as they spiraled around their quarry. Shelke was crouched low, making her already petit figure seem that much smaller, her twin fighting knives held in front of her in perfect formation. To her opposite, Vincent paced upright, with only the slightest hint of a fighting stance, his tall form barely an inch higher than the shoulders of the massive beast before him. His body was turned to the side presenting a smaller target, the clawed gauntlet of his left had was held defensively in front of him, while his right hand rested delicately on the grip of his gun. The nerosuferoth growled in frustration, she knew this tactic; she herself had used it many times. Wolf pack, the method was called; thought the animal could never know the human name for it. If she turned to attack one of her assailants, her intended victim would simply defend or dodge while the other assailant would attack her from behind. Her instincts told her to kill the small, weaker looking opponent, and then run for it. But she had not survived by listening to instinct.

The giant nerosuferoth turned towards the cloaked gunman, her muscles knotting to spring, hoping she could maim or kill the tall hunter before the smaller one could cause her serious harm. A fatal mistake. The great beast had not even begun to pounce before Shelke's twin fighting blades had sliced neatly through both of her hamstrings. Another instant had not passed before the agile figure darted out from underneath the monster, her blade raking its underbelly, splitting open its abdominal cavity and spilling vital organs down across the cool forest floor, still wet with the morning dew. The creature collapsed to the ground, curling in on itself in a vain attempt to undo the damage that had already been done. Vincent took a quick step forward, placed his gun against the side of the creature's head, and ended its pain and the reign of terror it had caused.

Vincent holstered his gun. Shelke cleaned her fighting knives before returning them to their sheaths. She then pulled her utility bag back around to her left hip and pulled from it a small cell phone. Flicking it open with a quick motion of her wrist she hit a speed dial and held the phone to her ear.

"Shelke reporting: Mission accomplished." She closed the phone and returned it to its resting place. "Well Vincent, shall we start the trek back to civilization?"

Vincent nodded, and began walking in the direction that would lead them out of the forest. As he passed his small partner she turned and matched his pace beside him.

"How have you been holding up Vincent?" she asked cheerfully.

"Well." he responded truthfully.

"I've noticed that you don't do anything except the missions Reeve asks you to do. Why is that?"

"…" Vincent wanted to be annoyed at her prying, but was relieved that of all the people who ever tried to pry, at least Shelke was honest and direct to the point.

"You know, Vincent," she chided when he didn't respond. "You don't have to punish yourself anymore for your past sins."

"How could you…" Vincent cut himself off. Her words had been unexpected, and had stung like salt in a very old wound.

"You were about to say 'how could you know about my past sins' or something like that weren't you?" Shelke hit the nail on the head. "You _KNOW_ I have all of her memories downloaded into my cybernetic neural net. And I have told you a thousand times that she never blamed you for what happened."

They had stopped walking. Shelke had planted herself stubbornly in front of Vincent who had turned his head to the side in a vain attempt to hide his emotions behind the cool facade which was now crumbling around him. The small girl stretched up on her toes to her fullest height and caught the gunman's chin with the tips of her fingers. Vincent did not resist as she pulled his face back around. A lesser man might have flown into a rage at this point, using anger or violence to further mask the hurt this small woman in a child's body was struggling to uncover. But Vincent had had much practice controlling emotion, not just his own, but also the emotion of the demons that possessed him. And so with nothing more than his strength of will the dark man buried his feelings deep once again, pulling the cool cloak of indifference over his festering heart, leaving only his burning crimson eyes as darkened windows to his bleeding soul.

"Vincent" Shelke pleaded. "You need to forgive yourself. You were both young, you both made mistakes…"

They had had this argument before. "Other people's mistakes do not cause so much death and despair" he stated bluntly.

Shelke almost yelled at him in frustration. "You can't blame yourself for that! No one could have foreseen what would happen! Don't you think she would have wanted you to move on eventually? Do you honestly think she would want you to keep suffering like this? You need to get on with your life!"

It was at this point in the argument that Vincent usually reverted to his favorite response: not saying anything. But this time his conscience pricked a little more than it usually did. Perhaps it was an added measure of sincerity in the woman's voice. Perhaps is was their recent mission, watching a powerful creature humbled and killed, its life extinguished, that had reminded him of the value of living. Perhaps he had ignored his friend for too long, when her only reason for bringing up the subject was for his own well being.

Vincent pulled away from Shelke's grasp, turning his head to the side once again. "I…" Vincent stammered. "…I don't know how."

The mako green eyes beneath him stared up long and hard, her face softening as she absorbed this new information.

"Well…" she said after a long silence. "I think we can help you there." she grabbed his hand, and began walking again through the forest, giving him no choice but to do the same. "First we need to get you some friends to just 'hang out with.' Some buddies you can talk to over some common interest. …This might be more challenging than I thought…" Shelke continued, more to herself than to her companion. "And then I think we should get you a nice girlfriend, someone young and full of energy I think."

Vincent was instantly uncomfortable at the new turn in the conversation and tried to direct it elsewhere. "So where do you fit into all of this?" he asked quickly.

"Well," she began thoughtfully. "Considering that I have the body of a nine-year-old girl, and the memories of your former girl-friend in addition to my own, I think you should count me as 'the younger sister who wants to see her older brother get hitched'"

"W-What?"

"You know… tie the knot, get married. It's a natural part of 'getting on with your life' and besides, your immortal; it _WILL_ happen someday."

Vincent's jaw dropped. He would have stopped dead in his tracks too if Shelke had not already been pulling him along by his hand. She didn't notice. A sudden familiar melody interrupted both of them, however, and Shelke retrieved her trumpeting cell phone from her pack.

"Hello? …Yes Vincent is here with me. …We can be there in a few hours, but why… Oh. …Priority one then? …Do we know where he is? …Of course. Forty five minutes then. See you in Nebelhiem."

Vincent knew they were in for a run. Forty five minutes to Nebelhiem meant they needed to catch a helicopter in Junon within twenty minutes. Twenty minutes to Junon meant a very very hard run. Shelke did not need to tell Vincent anything, he had heard enough. Their previous conversation momentarily forgotten, Vincent swept up the small girl into his arms and began a full tilt sprint towards Junon. Gathering the darkness once again, he called on a different demonic essence than he had previously. Vincent's metal boots and the lower part of his pants began to melt back into a dark purple fur. The bones of his foot extended as his heal shrank, until he was running only on the balls of his feet, which were quickly forming pads. His newly grown claws dug into the soft earth, flinging patches of mud and sod behind him. His already blinding speed increased further still as the muscles of his legs optimized themselves into a more efficient lupine form.

Vincent did not need to be told that this was a matter of considerable urgency. Only president Reeve Tsuesti of the WRO could issue a priority one alert.

--------------------

_-- Nebelhiem, 45 minutes later:_

The sounds of the helicopter faded in the distance as the pilot shut down the engine, but those sounds were still clearly audible as Vincent and Shelke entered the familiar house. Many of their old friends waited to greet the pair as the entered what so closely resembled Tifa's childhood home. It was not really the same house, of course, despite the uncanny resemblance. The wood floor was varnished the same color. A duplicate ornately woven rug graced the center of the main room in exactly the same spot as another rug had done to the house Tifa grew up in. Even the furnishings and embellishments had been reproduced with the utmost care and precision so that only a true native would notice anything at all missing.

Tifa's actual old home had of course been destroyed in the fire caused by the then renegade General Sephiroth. The house they now stood in was a replica, built by the Shinra in a vain attempt to hide the ugly truth about their greatest war hero general. Most of Nebelhiem had, in fact, been restored in this exact same manner. Shinra had even gone through the effort of hiring actors to pretend to be the local townspeople, so that no one would know how many people had died and how many lives had been ruined at the murderous hands of Sephiroth. The plan had even worked for a few years, until that very same Sephiroth reemerged under the direction of Jenova, and almost destroyed the world.

But now Shinra was all but gone, and everyone knew the truth about Sephiroth, and Nebelhiem, and everything else. The former actors who were now simply townspeople had offered the house to Tifa, as a sort of repayment for what she had lost. And while she had accepted it gracefully, it had never really felt like home.

It was into this house that Vincent and Shelke now strode. Waiting for them were Cloud and Tifa, sitting next to each other on a couch and holding hands, the bond of emotion between them radiating in a way that only committed couples could produce; passing more affection between them in the simple token of holding hands than a newfound love affair could have managed in the most intimate embrace. Further into the room a group of chairs had been commandeered from the kitchen, and stood scattered in front of an old-looking cabinet. Seated in the chairs were their friends Reeve Tsuesti, president of the WRO; Cid Highwind, expert pilot and recently returned astronaut, (a lit cigarette in his mouth despite Tifa's protests;) and Barret Wallace, Owner of the soon to be six-year-old Corel Oil and Gas Company (and though no one present yet knew it, also soon to be mayor of Corel.)

"Where are Yuffie and Nanaki?" Vincent asked, recognizing the gaps in the circle.

"Nanaki is up in the mountains trying to catch the remnants scent, while Yuffie volunteered to stay behind." Cloud began to explain. "Since the suspect has openly threatened me we thought it best to leave someone on watch for our children."

"Wait…" Barret interrupted. "You mean that remnant you were explaining about might be after your kids? What about my daughter Marlene?"

"She's with Yuffie and our children at Elmyra Gainesboro's house," Tifa related calmly to the large man. "You remember her right?"

Barret grumbled an unintelligible response. He could not readily forget the woman who had helped watch over Marlene so much while he had been fighting in the war against Jenova.

Reeve then cut in his own explanation. "Besides, we cannot protect all the innocent bystanders this man might decide to hurt, or even everyone we know. We need to find him and put him behind bars."

"I don't mean to interrupt…" Vincent began in his low quiet voice. "But I have not yet been briefed on the nature of this situation."

"Oh. Sorry Vinny." Cid said as he stood and pulled two chairs around. "Here. You two take a seat and we'll get you up to speed in no time."

Shelke and Vincent sat and listened, as Reeve did most the explaining, with Tifa or Cloud occasionally expounding upon the more important details. A man had kidnapped a young boy a few days back and locked him in the local mako reactor deep in the mountains north of town. Intriguing was the fact that the boy's description of his kidnapper matched that of Samuru, already a wanted suspect in the murder of Professor Stian the week before in Wutai. Even more interesting, however, was the young boy's description of how his kidnapper's eyes seemed to be changing in splotches from brown to green, and how the roots of his hair had turned silver. Green eyes and silver hair were classic trademarks of remnants, and they had already found remnant tissue connected to the murder in Wutai.

Vincent sighed. "Will the ghost of Jenova never die? Or will her "remnants" keep plaguing us for generations to come?"

Everyone in the room lowered their eyes to the ground. This was the thought they had all been thinking. Another remnant. One more of the mindless followers of the parasite Jenova and her misbegotten right hand Sephiroth.

Finally Reeve spoke up. "I want to keep everyone together if we can. If we need to split up, stay in contact. Also I am going to make a good deal of resources available. If we need anything from equipment to transportation, or even a full military assault, I will have it ready at a moments notice. This is, after all, a large part of why I formed the World Regenesis Organization. I want to take this remnant out as quickly as possible; we can't afford another "Kadaj" incident."

"Where should we start?" Shelke asked optimistically.

"Unless Nanaki manages to pull a scent trail out of the mountains, I think we should go to Edge. Cloud lives there, and the remnant has already threatened him. Also, Edge is now the closest civilization to Midgar, a long standing favored location for the followers of Jenova. Since the city is now mostly abandoned, it makes an ideal place for a fugitive to hide out. What do you think?" Reeve said turning to Cid and Barret; he knew that Cloud and Tifa would have no complaint about being closer to their children.

"That sounds alright." Cid said stretching against the back of his chair. "I'll have to call the misses and tell her where I'll be though." Barret did not say anything at first so Reeve glanced towards Shelke and Vincent. The first one smiled, while the taller one simply nodded. Finally Barret spoke up.

"Well… I'd been meanin' to visit Marlene soon anyway." the giant man grumbled, making it obvious to everyone in the room that he hadn't really been planning anything.


	7. Chapter 6: Ultimatum

The Phoenix Eye

Chapter 6

Ultimatum

_-- Nebelhiem, 14 Years Ago:_

She could feel him. She could feel all of them, but this one was different, stronger, more distinct, and she could feel him coming closer. A few years had passed by mortal reckoning since her puppet had failed to acquire the Phoenix Eye, and at the time she had almost lost faith in his competence. But now she had a new plan, already well under way, and her puppet would be here soon.

Jenova waited patiently. She had already waited for thousands of mortal years, mere moments in the unending life of the cosmos; she could wait a little longer. She felt her puppets frustration. Yes, he was learning about the nature of his… birth. It would not be long before his sanity was broken, relinquishing to herself absolute control over his every whim and emotion.

Realizing that her plan was now moving forward on its own momentum, Jenova cast her mind beyond the localization of her puppet's drama. With delight she counted all the beings over which she had claimed a measure of influence, a measure of dominion. Most of them were members of a military organization the mortals called SOLDIER. It had been all too easy to convince the fickle scientists to extract her tissue and infuse it into the bodies of other humans. Scientists indeed! By the mortals own admission these men of knowledge and logic where always supposed to ask why. How few of them had asked why when her essence gave men strength and power! How few of them had asked why her body had been entombed so deep in the northern ice! Why it had appeared to be dead! Why… it was still somehow alive!

They had not asked why. When they saw the power – the superhuman power than could be granted to a man, the power that be obtained by a man willing to use superhuman warriors – none of them asked why. And now there where many mortals, walking complacently across the warm skin of this infant planet, unknowingly doing the will of an ancient parasite. Jenova. That's what the old ones had named her. Usurper god, in their forgotten tongue.

But her reverie was interrupted, she could feel her puppet approaching closer now and she focused her concentration on him. He was very unique. She herself had whispered into the mind of a mortal how to create this one. The mortal had been a scientist named Professor Gast, one of the more stubborn of his kind with an uncanny ability to resist her more sinister suggestions. In the end, he had distanced himself from her physical body until she could influence him no more. He had not, despite her temptings, integrated her flesh with his own.

Jenova searched through the mind of her puppet, she wanted no mistakes this time. Yes, the mortal settlement he left behind was burning, there would be little chance of intervention. "Come to the mountains." she called to his mind. "I am here, your answers are here." Her puppet obeyed. He was coming closer to finding her, to completing her plan for her. Eager anticipation rippled through her disembodied consciousness. It would happen soon. It would have been quicker with the aid of the Phoenix eye, but if she gave her puppet enough power, if she made him a god, like herself, then he could do it. He would do it.

Soon the reunion would be complete. Soon, she would be fully reunited with her inert physical body, able to claim her rightful place as destroyer of this wretched world that had for so long imprisoned her.

"Mother, I'm here to see you." her puppet called, close enough now that she could hear his voice through her long dead body. "Please, open this door."

She complied, exercising her will; she extended her life force to manipulate the electronic door sealing off her body from the outside world. Foolish humans, thinking that material barriers mattered.

"Mother, let's take this planet back together…"

Mother, so that's how her puppet thought of her. Fitting, she mused, as it had been her intelligence that was exclusively responsible for his creation.

"Those worthless creatures are stealing the planet from Mother." her puppet called once again. "But now I'm here with you, so don't worry…"

"Yes my… son." she encouraged. Her puppet was so very close now. "Together, we will take back the world… my beloved Sephiroth."

--------------------

_-- Edge, Present Day:_

"The local police have reported no suspicious characters or criminal activities." Reeve briefed, as the hummer containing him and Cloud pulled up in front of the Gainesboro house.

"Well I suppose that's good in some ways" Cloud said distractedly. "It's good that he doesn't seem to be causing a ruckus like Kadaj's gang did, but…"

Reeve read what the warrior was thinking. "…But you'd rather know what he was up to. Right Cloud?"

"Yeah…" He paused for a moment, the hummer idling in the street, while the other vehicles where pulling up behind carrying more of his friends and miscellaneous military escort. Cloud then opened his door and tossed himself down to the pavement. Reeve followed behind as the others unloaded from their respective vehicles. Cloud looked around, studying the transportation that had brought them here. Most of the vehicles had readied machine gun turrets on top or on back, with alert WRO operatives manning each one, all in full combat readiness. Cloud wondered to himself just how useful they would be if this new remnant was anywhere close to as dangerous as the last few had been.

Tifa came up beside Cloud, filling in the gap in himself that had been missing beside him. "You look so worried Cloud. Come on! You'll feel better once you see that everything is still alright."

Cloud sighed, and let his sweetheart lead him towards the door. It opened before they reached it, revealing a smiling old lady and behind her, the warm gentle glow of a dimly lit room.

"You two are back late, the kids are already asleep and… oh my!" the lady's eyes widened as she took in the line of combat trucks parked on the street and the many people standing in or around them. "I see you've brought the whole circus! I don't think I have enough beds!"

Tifa laughed, instantly lightening Cloud's mood with the sound he loved so much. "No Mrs. Gainesboro, they're not all staying, just a few of them, if you have the room. Also, Reeve wants to leave a truck or two outside for surveillance, in case of emergency."

"Call me Elmyra, please! We've known each other for long enough."

"Sorry Elmyra." Cloud apologized for Tifa, scratching the back of his head in light embarrassment. "It's just what the children always call you and we get used to it that way."

"So who's staying?" the lady asked smiling. "I've always got a few beds to spare. I assume Zack, Aeris, and Marlene are still sticking around until this is over, anyone else?"

"Barret wants to stay, of course" Tifa explained. "And Yuffie is already here isn't she?"

"Oh yes…" Elmyra began with a sudden mischievous smile. "Come inside, you have to see this!"

She beckoned them to follow and withdrew into the house. Cloud and Tifa tagged along, exchanging puzzled glances as they came through the door and into the main living area. Sprawled across the couch and fast asleep lay Yuffie Kisaragi, her right hand draping limply down to where a book lay bent open against the varnished wood floor. Snuggled on top of the ninja and across her abdomen lay the also-sleeping form of the almost-two-year-old Aeris, while propped up against a pillow at the ninja's feet sat the four-year-old Zack, sound asleep as well. Tifa sighed, grabbing cloud's hand and leaning her head against him. They both smiled.

"So, that is the great ninja Yuffie, Lord of Wutai." Cloud whispered.

Tifa caught herself from snorting too loudly. "You know the only reason you can get away with calling her 'lord' is because she is sleeping." she quietly reminded her husband. "Besides, you shouldn't make fun. She will be a good mother someday."

"Isn't she still a bit young though?" Cloud asked.

"Cloud…" Tifa began their voices still barely a whisper. "She is twenty five as of last November, a year older than I was when I married you." Elmyra chuckled softly.

Cloud looked at his wife in surprise. "Really!" He shook his head in disbelief. "I guess I just always think of her as the young one in the group. Well I guess Shelke has inherited that title…" Tifa was staring at Cloud in shocked indignation. "…What?" he said defensively

"Cloud! You know that Shelke only _APEARS_ to be nine-years-old right?" Tifa said incredulously.

"Yeah, of course I know that!" Cloud countered.

"And did you also know that Shelke too is twenty five? Only younger than Yuffie by a month-and-a-half?"

Cloud stared. "You're kidding right?" he said, looking carefully at his wife's expression. She wasn't kidding.

"You can be pretty clueless sometimes Cloud." she scolded him with a smile.

Cloud lowered his gaze and scratched the back of his head, the way he always did when he felt embarrassed. Tifa let him do this for only a moment, however, before she ducked in and kissed him. Elmyra sighed, wistfully remembering her younger years before her husband had been lost in the war.

"Come Cloud." Tifa said quietly. "We should probably get the little ones to bed before it gets too noisy down here." Cloud nodded in agreement. "I'll take Zack." she informed him, moving to the far end of the Couch.

With the extreme care and gentleness of a loving father, Cloud picked up his daughter Aeris, brushing the exposed abdominal skin of the sleeping ninja only slightly as he did so. Yuffie cracked one eye open the slightest sliver, her ninja training assessing the situation with no other movement of her body. Finding only her trusted friend Cloud, however, the ninja closed her eye once again and was swallowed instantly in sleep. There were few people aside from Cloud who would have even noticed the deadly warrior had stirred, they had indeed left their children safe in capable hands.

Cloud pulled up his daughter into his cradling arms in one fluid motion, her breath barely stirring from the change in position. Tifa was already half up the stairs with a dead-to-the-world Zack hanging limply across her shoulder when Cloud turned himself to follow. He smiled inwardly at the thought that they could probably have used a diesel-powered fork lift to carry their son to bed and he wouldn't have noticed. Aeris, on the other hand, had always been a fitful sleeper, waking to almost anything. Tifa had learned very early to always let Cloud carry their daughter when she was sleeping, him having some seemingly supernatural ability to move the baby without waking her.

By the time Cloud and Tifa returned downstairs both Reeve and Barret had entered the small house. Barret seemed unable to tone down his voice to a proper whisper and Yuffie was consequently sitting up on the couch, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. Cloud and Tifa smiled in unison as they descended the stairs, infinitely grateful that they had moved their children, especially Aeris, before the large man had had the chance to wake them. Barret had been mildly disappointed that his teenage daughter Marlene was already asleep upstairs, but cheered up quickly at Elmyra's suggestion that he surprise her in the morning. Reeve, on the other hand, was busy trying to sort out how to keep as much of the group together and protected as humanly possible. Elmyra, as usual, was completely self-sacrificing, and willing to lay out mats on the floor as long as there was still floor visible. Not wanting to impose too much on their friend's hospitality, however, Tifa offered her own home, which arguably had plenty of space. Initially they rejected the idea, due to the possible danger of the unknown remnant. But Cloud pointed out that with Vincent's eyes and Nanaki's nose on watch, there was little chance of anything surprising them during the night.

After some discussion, Barret, Shelke, and Yuffie agreed to stay at the Gainesboro residence, while Cloud, Tifa, Vincent, Cid, Reeve, and Nanaki took two hummers to the Strife home, just a few blocks away. They had to travel three to a seat now, instead of two, though the military vehicles were more than wide enough to accommodate. Cloud, Tifa and Reeve took the leading vehicle, discussing the possibilities of the elusive remnant. Their conversation paused for a moment, however, as they approached their intended destination to find a car parked out front by the curb. Silence anxiously dominated the inside of the hummer for a few instants until the hummer's sweeping headlights illuminated the black on white lettering 'Edge PD' painted on the back of the parked car. Everyone relaxed.

Two policemen came out to great the entourage as soon as it was apparent that this was there stop. "Can I help you?" one of the policemen called warily before recognizing the Reeve and the others. "Oh, president Tsuesti! I'm sorry; we didn't know you were coming."

"Don't address me so formally, I'm only president of the WRO, not the Edge Police Department. Just call me Reeve." he told them flatly. "How long have you two been parked here? Is anything wrong?"

"The PD has been on shifts since early this morning – or yesterday by now technically – ever since we got the Strifes' warning about the death threat and a possible remnant on the loose." the second office explained calmly. "We didn't want anything to happen to our famous heroes on our watch."

The first policeman was taking note of the full military complement behind the new arrivals, eyeing the mounted gun emplacements on top of the hummers and the armored jackets, automatic rifles, and numerous spare magazines sported by the WRO operatives. "Wow, did you guys bring in the whole military? I'm starting to feel unprepared. Just how dangerous is this guy?" he asked nervously.

"You probably have nothing to worry about." Reeve reassured the officer, though Cloud looked as if he had been about to say otherwise. "The real problem is that we don't know much about his intentions, and we want to be ready to move as soon as he shows his head."

Cid, Vincent, and Nanaki were approaching the group now, Cid talking loudly about how he could out-drink the stoic red-cloaked gunman, while Vincent, on the other hand, had not seem to have noticed that Cid was even talking to him. Suddenly Nanaki froze in his tracks, his muscles tensing, his claws digging into the hard pavement, his fiery fur standing straight on end, and a low wolf like growl reverberating from his throat.

"What is it Nanaki?" Tifa asked, who had noticed his reaction first. Everyone now turned to the old warrior.

"He's been here. I recognize his scent from the mountain." the words hissing softly between his bared teeth.

"Samuru the remnant?" Cloud asked in growing concern. "How long ago?"

"He passed this spot not more than a few hours past." the old predator explained. Tifa turned to the policemen with an inquisitive expression.

"It's been quiet." one of the officers defended before anyone could accuse. "We've been on shift for almost six hours and we haven't seen a thing."

"Is he still here?" Reeve asked Nanaki, bringing the attention once again to their four-legged companion.

"…I can't be sure," he said after a pause. "But I don't think so."

Vincent stepped forward in a flash which startled only the two policemen. "I'll check the house." he said simply, reaching out his hand towards Cloud and Tifa. Cloud stared at the outstretched hand uncomprehendingly, until Tifa finally gave Vincent her set of house keys. Vincent grasped the keys quickly before addressing the group as a whole. "Give me thirty seconds."

All but the keenest eyes present saw nothing more than a blur of Vincent's red cloak before the gunman was through the front door to the house. Less than half a minute later he returned, his expression revealing nothing of his findings, something small and white lying clutched in his left gauntlet.

"He was in the house but is now gone." Vincent explained without waiting for questions. "He used a low-level bolt spell to fry the alarm system and a low level ice spell to mask his entry through one of the second story windows. He vandalized much, slashing walls, curtains, and pillows with some kind of knife or small blade." Tifa flinched at the callous description, but said nothing. "I don't think he was searching for anything, just trying to make it look bad with minimal effort. He couldn't have been inside for more than twenty minutes. He also left this," he said, pulling forth his left hand and the piece of paper in it. "…fastened to the master bedroom door."

Cid swore. Tifa turned her head and buried it in her husband's shoulder. His hand was around her comfortingly, though he did not recall consciously deciding to do that. Cloud then took the paper and read it silently.

"To the betrayer, Cloud Strife." the note began.

"You may consider the destruction of your property to be malicious and petty, and you would probably be right, but I needed to make sure that my message was taken seriously.

"You could have helped Mother you know. And yet you were always the one to make her unhappy. I will never understand how you could have betrayed Jenova, our Mother and the rightful ruler of the planet. But that does not matter now. I have something I wish to show you Cloud, come see me in Midgar. You won't of course bring any police or those flunkies from the WRO; I would hate to have to make my point more clearly by endangering those close to you.

"Oh and bring your friends, you know which ones, who helped defy Mother. But no one else. I'll see for you in the Sector six slums, tomorrow. Don't make me wait."

Cloud's blood boiled in rage, and he passed the note to Reeve before he could be overcome by the desire to destroy it. The note was handed around until all but Tifa had read it. She shook her head when it was offered to her, she had learned enough from feeling Cloud's emotions.

Reeve then handed the note to the nearest officer. "I don't think we need to worry about the remnant doing anything more tonight." he explained to the policemen. "Why don't you call in the forensics and look this place over." he said, being careful to ask, instead of order, the men who were not under his command. "Go ahead and keep the note as evidence, though I'd appreciate an electronic copy as soon as possible, if it's not too much to ask."

"Anything to help Reeve, Mr. and Mrs. Strife." one of the policeman responded courteously. "I only wish we had somehow been able to prevent this. I don't know how he got in there and did all that without us noticing."

"Do not blame yourself" Nanaki's Quiet falsetto-like voice interrupted. "This is the third time I have caught Samuru's trail, and while he hasn't showed himself to be a great warrior like Kadaj or Sephiroth, he has proved to be quite sly and elusive."

Both policemen relaxed, as they realized they were not being blamed for the break in. "Right." one of them responded. "We'll do what we can here. If you need anything else, consider the Edge PD at your full disposal."

"Thank you" Reeve responded graciously before turning back to Cloud and Tifa. "I think perhaps we should return to Mrs. Gainesboro's house," he offered to the unsettled couple. "My men can set up some tents for sleeping, I think that I will stay up though and go through possible scenarios with the troops."

"No." Vincent interrupted, surprising everyone. "I'm the only one who doesn't need sleep, and you said yourself Reeve that the remnant was unlikely to do anything more tonight." The head of the WRO started to respond but Vincent continued. "I'll keep watch with the soldiers; all of you need to get as much sleep as possible before the confrontation tomorrow."

"But I need to go over tactics with my men." Reeve complained.

"I'm a former Turk," the gunman responded. "…and I am familiar enough with tactics to know that here is only one scenario open to us now. Our small group goes in as the remnant requested, while your troops remain on standby outside the city waiting for the signal to engage." Reeve was silent, the gunman was right of course. "Your troops are already trained for this Reeve; I'll brief them on the situation. You need your sleep too president."

A sigh spread among the group, the seriousness of the next day's schedule sinking in. After a moment the silence was broken by a frustrated curse from Cid.


	8. Chapter 7: The Begining of the End

The Phoenix Eye

Chapter 7

The Beginning of the End

_-- South of Midgar, the Next Morning:_

Yuffie stood on a hill, overlooking the valley before her. Somewhere behind the approaching storm clouds to the east, the sun had risen, for the abandoned city of Midgar suddenly became visible through the morning gloom. The young ninja warrior began to shiver slightly as the wind picked up speed and the temperature dropped. She heard the sounds of approaching footsteps.

"I thought you might need this." Shelke said as she neared, holding a black winter coat identical to the one she was wearing.

Yuffie took the offered gift, but paused briefly when she noticed the silver emblazoned "WRO" across the back.

"It's what we have." Shelke explained smiling. "Now put it on before you freeze."

"Ninja's don't freeze." Yuffie countered while donning the coat.

Shelke laughed. "Come on, there are others keeping watch and they want to have a meeting before we leave."

The two of them then turned away from the scene of the derelict former metropolis and headed back to camp. The WRO military had set up base in a ravine south of Midgar in an attempt to keep their presence hidden from anyone in the city. Troops and supplies had been slowly filtering in during the night. Cloud's team, as it had quickly come to be called, had arrived in the pre-dawn to find everything already in place for a full invasion of the city. Yuffie and Shelke now descended into this same camp, aiming for the main tent where most of the group had congregated. The mobile HQ, as they called the massive mess-hall sized tent, remained open on the North and South ends, facilitating the constant traffic of officers and couriers scuttling about like ants around the many tables and hanging maps. A radio and satellite communications center was tucked into the east wall with a few extra partitions to further protect the equipment from the elements. Cloud and Reeve were the most prominent figures in the tent, Reeve because every WRO operative snapped to attention whenever he said anything, and Cloud because he too was actively discussing strategy and his hair simply stood out in any crowd.

The rest of the group, however, had taken on a more passive role, waiting for a storm much more dangerous than heralded by the approaching clouds. Tifa sat on a large rock just inside the tent border. Nanaki lay on the ground beside her, letting the martial artist idly run her fingers through his mane as if he were her favorite pet. And though Nanaki was a noble intelligent creature, and definitely nobody's pet, he didn't seem to mind the gesture. Barret and Cid had commandeered a table at the far end of the tent, where the two men drank and pretended to play cards. Vincent stood in a dark corner, quietly watching everything that was going on but participating in nothing. Yuffie wondered to herself if the quiet gunman had instinctually found the darkest corner of the place or if it had only become dark after he had claimed it.

"Ah, good. You're here." Reeve commented upon noticing Shelke and Yuffie arriving. "We're about ready to set off."

"So, how're we getting in?" Yuffie inquired.

"Were going to take two armored trucks," Cloud explained. "…keeping enough distance so that one explosive can't hit both vehicles. We've found a mostly intact highway that will take us most of the way into sector 4. After that, if our friend has not yet shown his face, we search on foot."

It seemed simple enough to Yuffie. She had been about to ask another question when suddenly the tent went quiet. Booted footsteps crunched the sandy soil behind them, and somewhere in the back of Yuffie's mind she thought she heard a familiar twangy guitar theme. All heads turned automatically to the four black-suited figures outside the tent.

"Did you really think we'd let you guys hog all the fun yo?" one of the newcomers asked, his shocking red hair waving like fire in the wind.

"Reno," Cloud started, his eyes narrowing into a slight glare. "What are the Turks doing here?"

A taller, bald man with sunglasses and multiple ear piercing stepped forward. "We're helping." Rude stated bluntly.

Elena, a smaller woman with short blond hair leaned forward with confidence and added "Whether you like it or not."

Reeve sighed. "Unfortunately we cannot accept outside help. Our team must go in alone."

"Ah yes," the fourth Turk responded casually, stepping forward. "The threat note… You see, we managed to get a copy of that." Rude, Reno, and Elena all backed down as their leader Tseng, advanced on the tent. Compared to his subordinates, Tseng was very calculating and business like. Whereas the other Turks mostly liked to get their way through force or intimidation, he preferred simply to be a man who was hard to say no to.

"If you saw the note…" Cloud began carefully. "Then you should already know that you cannot accompany us."

"Ah, but that is where you are wrong…" Tseng was smiling now drawing out his pause for dramatic effect. "You see, the note only said 'no police or military,' and since we are neither police nor military there is no reason why we cannot accompany you."

"The note only said to bring Cloud's friends who had defied Jenova!" Yuffie contended, leaning angrily into Tseng's composed expression.

"I am hurt you do not consider us friends after all we've been through." the Turk said in a show of indignation. Yuffie snorted. "And besides, did we not help defy Jenova during the 'Meteor Incident'?"

"You were more hindrance than help the way I remember it." Tifa interjected.

"And did we not help rescue Yuffie from the clutches of Don Corneo?" Tseng added with an air of self righteousness.

"Only because the snot had captured one of your own as well." Barret countered.

"And we even fought beside you against Kadaj and his gang of hoodlums." the leader of the Turks announced with regal bravado.

"You did more loosing than fighting" Yuffie added with a malicious smile.

"Oh that does it" Reno spat, launching himself at the smug ninja. Beside him the emotionless Rude simply reached out a hand to catch the back of the hot-tempered Turk's collar, preventing the now squirming red-head from approaching an inch closer.

Tseng leaned forward, donned a more serious expression, and spoke directly to Cloud. "Besides, there is one more reason why you cannot refuse our help." Everyone was silent now, even Reno. "Even if we did not accomplish much against Jenova, we did try. The remnant will not see bringing us as violating his instructions, and you need all the help you can get."

Cloud looked at Reeve. Reeve looked at Cloud. And everyone else glanced back and forth the between the two of them and Tseng.

"He's probably right." Cloud said reluctantly. "If we can only bring in a limited number of people, we should bring everyone we can." Heads nodded, the group accepting the decision of their long time leader.

"So…" Reno said breaking the silence. "I overheard that we're taking the highway into town… which of the ladies gets to sit by me during the ride?"

All of the females present, including the Turk Elena, clapped their hands to their faces in exasperation, and made plans not only to avoid sitting next to Reno, but if possible, not to even sit in the same vehicle.

--------------------

_-- Midgar, Sector 4, An Hour Later:_

The heavy-treaded tires of the unmarked armored truck slowed to a grinding halt on the rubble strewn wet highway. Lightning split the cloud-choked sky, illuminating for a moment the terrifying visage of the surrounding ruined city. A moment later the thunder cracked, echoing unchallenged through abandoned buildings and alleyways. The driver's-side door of the vehicle swung open, and Cloud's heavy boots planted themselves firmly on the ground. The legendary young warrior stood, his muscles relaxed, yet ready. Rain streaming unheeded down his face and shoulders. Slowly he turned his head, scanning the area, his heightened senses assimilating his environment to the smallest detail.

"All clear so far." he said aloud.

"Good." came Reeve's reply through his radio earpiece. "Unload the rest of the first vehicle."

The sound of opening doors greeted the warrior as he reached behind the driver's seat to retrieve his weapon. Cloud had not needed to relay the order as all members of the team had received their own communicator. With speed and skill he assembled the parts of his favored fighting instrument. Constructed by the same master weapon smith that made his mentor's weapon, the Buster Sword, the First Tsurugi was in indeed a force to be reckoned with. Composed of six separate blades of varying lengths, weights, and thicknesses, each of which could be used individually or could combine to form a massive crush sword, the First Tsurugi offered a skilled fighter a wide span of weapons to choose from. Cloud was far more than just a skilled fighter.

Setting his fully assembled sword into its harness strapped across his back, Cloud pulled a pair of silver rimmed shades from a pocket and pushed them up his nose. A normal human would have been nearly blinded by the combination effect of the dark storm and the tinted glasses. But Cloud's enhanced vision was hampered little, and he wanted to keep the rain out of his eyes. Around him his freshly unloaded companions where making their own evaluations of their surroundings.

"Clear" Tseng called from behind the vehicle. Cloud heard the voice echo in his earpiece.

"I don't smell anything" Nanaki Reported. "Though with the heavy rain, I'll probably only smell him if he gets close."

"Clear on this side." came Rude's voice from the left side of the vehicle, realizing that he wasn't likely to find anything Cloud or Nanaki had missed.

"Clear here too." Reno said finally, waiting to make it seem like he could perceive as much or more than his comrades.

There was a silent pause as the group waited for the last member of the advance group to report.

"Vincent?" Reeve called tentatively over the com link.

"Wait…" his voice came softly.

All heads turned towards the red-cloaked gunman, who walked slowly up the center of the road in front of them. He walked right up to the edge where the highway ended, having collapsed long ago onto an underpass. Slowly he scanned the rooftops of the industrial buildings to the right, everyone present following his gaze. Though Cloud's earpiece was silent, he could feel Reeve back at the camp, as well as the passengers in the second vehicle, listening intently for Vincent's report. Several long moments passed and the gunman did not move. Cloud considered asking if he had sensed something or was just being cautious when the angry wind suddenly shifted, pulling the gunman's tattered cloak and revealing that Vincent's right hand was clasped firmly on the handle of his gun Cerberus.

Lightning flashed again, illuminating the rooftops for a brief moment. Cloud frantically scanned the profiles of ventilation shafts and air conditioning units, glancing from a fire escape to a small microwave tower. He saw nothing human, but there had been something out of place. He felt the danger. An impatient Reno came up behind Cloud intending on asking him to hurry up. But Cloud's left hand sprang back to catch Reno before he could say anything. The hot-headed Turk was about to retaliate when he felt the intensity of Cloud's stance, and the suspense silenced him. While keeping his left hand firmly on the Turk's shoulder, Cloud reached back his right hand and began slowly drawing his weapon.

In an instant Vincent's tri-barreled gun was out and firing, a split second before a dark form launched itself noisily from the rooftop and down towards the highway below. Two beams of light flooded the street from the descending figure. Twin sets of quad-barreled machine guns rained bullets down on the scattering warriors. Man-sized steel talons sank in the rain soaked asphalt illuminated by the truck's headlights, as the seventeen-foot tall, eighty-five ton battle walker robot finished its deadly landing. Reeve was urgently demanding a report through the radio lines, while Reno generously provided a running string of profanity to punctuate the chaotic sounds of battle. A beam of brilliant blue energy shot from the mechanical construct, disintegrating the military truck in an expanding sphere of orange and purple plasma.

Even through the torrential rain, Tifa could see the explosion from her position in the front passenger seat of the second vehicle parked one hundred meters further back. She didn't need any more instructions.

"Let's go!" she yelled, almost ripping her door off of its hinges in her haste, not waiting for the others present to acknowledge or caring if they followed. Barret, Cid, Yuffie, and Elena did not take more than a moment, though, to agree with Tifa's assessment and exit the vehicle.

"Will someone give me a report of what's going on!" Reeve screamed through the radio over the sounds of melee and gunfire.

"The first vehicle has been destroyed." Elena responded as she sprinted after Tifa. "Second team approaching as backup."

"Yeah." Tseng's voice echoed through the radio. "We've been attacked by a…" the transmission cut off as another large explosion tore through the city.

"Tseng!!!" Elena called, her voice changing from alarmed to hysterical by the time she had finished the name. She raised her hand to her ear, pushing in the radio as far as the flesh would allow.

"I'm Ok…" Tseng's struggling voice came through the radio. "Cloud has just removed its left arm." Elena shook with relief, though she did not stop running.

"What's attacking?" Reeve's voice demanded urgently.

"The Prototype Shinra A-1 Mobile Siege Platform." Rude announced. "It was supposed to have been decommissioned after the Deepground Incident.

"Well it sure doesn't look very 'decommissioned' now!" Reno complained loudly. "Don't anyone dare tell me that this is payback for the time I said I would miss not seeing this thing in action."

Tifa was approaching close enough now to make out the man-made instrument of destruction raining bullets and large explosives on the evading humans. She slowed her pace slightly as she cycled through possible attack strategies in her mind. Coming up beside her, Barret had a simpler idea of what to do.

"Eat lead, chrome dome!" he bellowed, unleashing his own spray of bullets from his cybernetic gun arm.

The robot paused and turned. And even through the heavy rain, Barret could tell that the machine was now training its long range guns on him. The large gunman stopped, transfixed like a small woodland creature frozen in approaching headlights. Tifa threw herself at Barret, slamming him aside as two rockets flew through the space he had just occupied. The slender martial artist continued her momentum, dragging the larger gunman as a stream of deadly machine gun fire traced inches behind them. The onslaught stopped short, as Tifa recognized the sound of her husband's gigantic sword slicing though metal.

"Thanks for the distraction." Cloud's voice came through the radio. "You ok back there Barret?"

"Just fine," he responded. "Tifa pulled me outta' the way."

Yuffie, Cid, and Elena rushed forward, taking flanking positions to the side of the metal monster. The group was together now and on the offensive. The battle robot struggled, having already been relieved of most of its weaponry. But it had been designed well and was not adverse to kicking, stepping on, or falling on its opponents. Cloud, being the heaviest hitting melee fighter by far, kept up a constant bombardment of chopping and thrusting attacks. Deep gouges decorated the armored body of the mechanical titan from Cloud's mighty sword, and several limbs were missing altogether. The other lighter melee fighters – Tifa, Cid, Nanaki, Shelke, Rude, and Reno – kept further back, only moving in to strike at vulnerable spots when the opportunity presented itself. Yuffie danced gracefully through the air, throwing her large ninja shuriken many times, always finding her mark, and always catching her weapon on the rebound. Barret continued to offer indiscriminate auto-fire support while Vincent, Tseng, and Elena kept a stream of more precise shots with their respective semi-automatic hand guns.

With the team working together it was not long before the mighty war machine was brought down to a quivering heap of scrap-metal, the unrelenting rain seeping through the many gashes and bullet holes to reap further havoc on the electronic circuitry inside. The team rested silently, letting the rain cool their heated bodies, gentle steam rising from their sweat-soaked clothing.

"Well Reeve, we've got this one wrapped up." Cid called into the radio. Reeve having long since given up on asking for minute-by-minute reports.

A soft beeping noise was suddenly heard, chiming in regular intervals. The group looked around nervously, and quickly surmised it was coming from the robot.

"Everyone stand back." Cloud instructed. "I'll check it out."

The swordsman advanced on the crumpled form, carrying his sword in his off hand. After a few moments of listening and zeroing in on the sound, Cloud emerged with a small black box which had been strategically placed out of harm's way. The box had a small red LED light, flashing in time to the beeps, the only other thing of interest being a round green button labeled "play." After a moment's hesitation, Cloud pushed the button. The beeping and flashing stopped and was replaced by a voice recording. And though the recording was quiet, everyone heard it repeated through Cloud's transmitter.

"You know," the recorded voice explained. "This could have been a bomb you just activated. But of course I don't really know who pushed the button and why give you a reason not to trust me in the future." Everyone instantly inferred that this was the voice of their remnant, Samuru.

"If you are hearing this recording then my robot is dead and I have been sent all the details on your arrival electronically. If everything went according to plan you arrived by the main highway, as I thought you would, and there are now a few less of you standing and breathing." The team glanced around smiling at each other, glad that he had been wrong about the second point.

"Travel north from the end of the highway one hundred and thirty meters to a small street named 'Rosemary.' Don't worry, the street sign is still there. Then follow the road East by North-East for another fifty meters. If you have followed my advice and haven't brought the police or military, then further instructions will be waiting for you. Otherwise… well, I'll just leave that to your imagination. Oh and, why not… after all, you were stupid enough to push the button anyways…"

The recording stopped abruptly. With lightning reflexes Cloud launched the black box skyward, an instant later the box detonated only a few feet above his head.

"You alright Cloud?" Reeve asked through the radio.

"Fine." he responded.

"This guy's leading us into a trap" Yuffie announced, walking in closer to Cloud.

"Yeah," Cid chimed in. "What's to prevent him from leading us all over the city in a wild goose chase fighting these stupid machines until we fall over from exhaustion?"

"There was only one prototype." Rude informed the group.

"If he could activate a decommissioned Shinra Prototype" Reeve called in over the radio. "He could activate other robots or automated defenses."

"I don't see that we really have much of a choice." Cloud finalized. "We can either play his game, proceeding with caution, and try to beat him at it. Meanwhile our friends and family remain safe. Or we can pull in the military to comb over this rat's nest inch by inch, a feat that could take years, or even decades. And hope we catch him before he takes hostages or murders innocents trying to get to us."

"Cloud's right." Reeve informed them over the radio. "Spread out, move in formation, and be careful. We've got helicopters and artillery ready as soon as you can flush him out of whatever hole he's hiding in."

"Ok. That's that then." Cloud responded in agreement. "Let's move out."


	9. 8: Out of the Frying Pan, Into the Fire

The Phoenix Eye

Chapter 8

Out of the Frying Pan and Into the Fire

_-- Midgar, Sector 4, A Short Time Later:_

"Nice to know you were following instructions…" the recording on the black box explained. The entire group was some distance off, listening to the recorded voice of the remnant while watching for possibilities of another ambush. This time, Yuffie had hit the green 'play' button from a distance with her shuriken, the whole group wanting to stay a safe distance.

The recording continued. "There is a maintenance shaft a few paces to the north leading to the railroad access beneath the plate. Simply drop in and follow the train tracks to the west, taking lefts at any junctions you find. Don't worry about going to far, you'll know where you're supposed to be when you get there."

The black box stopped producing sound and the small audience waited for it to detonate as the last one had. Nothing happened.

"You know, I've haven't even met this guy and he already pisses me off!" Cid blurted out suddenly.

"I know what you mean," Reno joined. "He's playing us for fools! All these mind games and all this 'go here' and 'go there.' Just wait till I see that guy and I'll show him where to put his little black boxes yo!"

"Reno. Calm Down." Tifa admonished him.

"Yes." Reeve seconded. "Don't let his games get to you. Everyone just focus on the mission."

Cloud stopped listening as the conversation drifted to less important points. He walked north a few yards to the access hatch that was clearly visible across the cement walkway. The rectangular cover plate was as long as Cloud was tall, and just as wide too. To take the long term pressure of foot and vehicle traffic, the metal plate was made a full inch and a half thick, punctuated with symmetrical slots for a hydraulic lift or construction vehicle to pull it out of the ground by chains. Cloud dug his hands into the anchoring slots and wrenched the heavy plate free of the cement and dust without visible effort. He carried the plate aside and leaned it against a nearby ruined building where it sank deeply into the soft stucco wall.

By now the rest of the group had finished their conversation and found their way over to Cloud. He stood over the opening, squatting down for a closer look into the descending blackness.

"Do you have the schematics of the railways up yet?" Cloud asked Reeve over the intercom.

"Already got pulled them up on my computer," Reeve announced. "…though if Shelke were here I could have done it in a tenth the time."

"I'm not your personal calculator." Shelke complained jokingly.

"Where could his instructions be leading us?" Cloud interrupted, keeping focused on the task in front of him. Tifa noticed that Cloud was shifting into his 'serious' mode, as she liked to call it. Cloud was not going to be deterred or stopped until the matter with the remnant was resolved.

Reeve's voice came back over the radio. "That question is a little harder to answer. The remnant's proposed route will take you around the outside of the sector ring, literally leading to just about anywhere except the Shinra main offices."

"Does this shaft lead straight down to the rail tunnels?" Cloud inquired.

"Yes it does." Reeve responded quickly.

Tifa stretched out her hand and opened her mouth to stop Cloud, but she was too late. Her husband had dropped into the shaft without a word or moment's hesitation. She sighed exasperatedly before calling down the shaft.

"You okay down there Cloud?" her voice echoed loudly into the darkness.

"I can hear you just fine through the radio Tifa." Cloud reminded her. "And I'm fine; all clear down here."

"Next time my love, use the ladder." Tifa relayed through the radio, swinging her legs down onto the first rung and descending towards her husband. Cloud did not reply, and Tifa could picture her blond-haired warrior scratching the back of his head in embarrassment… the way he always did."

Tifa soon heard the sounds of scraping boots above her as she was followed by first Barret, and then Cid and others. It occurred to Tifa during the few moments in which she shared the shaft with Barret that she was not sure if she trusted this old rusty maintenance ladder to hold the weight of the large man above her. But Tifa finished her descent safely and ducked out of the way as the rest of the team followed. She quickly took her place at her husband's side and smiled at him, meaning to convey that it would all work out right. Cloud met her gaze and accepted her encouragement, his expression wavering for only a moment from the grim countenance that watched the progress of their descending companions with impatience. Cloud was definitely in 'serious mode' Tifa decided.

The trek down the long abandoned train tunnels was long and arduous. Many times the group had to slow their pace to cross sections of track which had collapsed into spaces far below, or to crawl over rubble from cave-ins which had all but blocked the tunnel. The old railway seemed to go on forever, and Barret even commented that it had taken less time to climb the fifty-nine flights of stairs up the 'emergency exit' of the Shinra Tower. But as the group neared the threshold to the third sector, one of them spoke up.

"Wait!" Nanaki called softly. The group paused and turned towards him. "I smell an active robot."

"How can you smell a robot?" Elena inquired.

"They use different kinds of lubricants when making robots…" the old hunter explained. "… in order to prevent damaging the electronic components. And an active robot will keep the lubricant warm… I learned to distinguish the scent during by internship as one of Hojo's experiments."

"Ok, lets proceed with extra caution…" Cloud began, but was interrupted.

"Wait, wait, wait." Reno cut in. "That's just what he expects us to do." Cloud stared silently at the red-head, as did every other member of the group. Reeve would have stared too, if he had been there, but he just remained silent instead.

"Um, I don't get it." Yuffie injected in confusion.

"Well, come on yo!" Reno spun around flustered, trying to find someone to help explain. "Well I mean, this remnant guy… he expects us to come in all nice and easy like, so he'll be planning his ambush or whatever around that. If we just like, burst through the tunnel guns blazing, we'll upset his plan. You know what I mean?"

"That sounds reckless." Tifa criticized with an expression of skepticism.

Reno clapped his hand to his forehead. "Exactly!" he almost yelled in frustration.

"Wait," Reeve's chimed in. "I think I know what he's getting at." The group stared off into the empty spaces between each other's profiles as they listened to the advice of their distant friend. "If the remnant has a trap, he will wait to spring it until the group is in the right spot. In other words, he has the advantage and will wait until you are exactly where he wants you to be. In some ways like a mouse trap which only snaps shut when the mouse gets close enough to touch the cheese.

"What Reno is saying is that if you rush in, you may end up passing the metaphorical 'jaws of the trap' before they have the chance to close correctly. You could end up being too close, or too far from the ambush for it to have the desired effect. Like the mouse that runs in quickly and snatches up the cheese before the trap can spring."

"Yeah…" Reno said in confusion, trying to figure out how all that analogy came from his simple suggestion. "…something like that."

"Sooooooo… Let me get this straight," Yuffie began sarcastically. "We're the mouse going into the mousetrap right?"

"That's right." Shelke responded with a mischievous grin. "But does a 'ninja mouse' ever get caught?" Yuffie grinned evilly.

As it turned out, Reno's suggestion had proved very beneficial. The remnant had indeed rigged a trap, consisting of several score combat drones and repaired defense robots prepared to spring as the team entered a bottleneck in the tunnel with very little cover. Had they actually been caught in the bottleneck they probably would have sustained serious injury from the overwhelming gunfire concentrated into such a small area. But as it was with the whole team rushing forward, they had passed the bottleneck before the mechanical death machines had pulled sufficiently from their hiding places to open fire.

The battle lasted less than a minute, only requiring a few cure spells afterwards from stray bullets. And it was not long after that the last clue to the remnant's location was found. There was a door on the side of the tunnel, just like many such doors they had encountered further back. But this door had a block of new cement in front of it, like an extended step. And resting neatly in the center of the step, right in front of the steel door, was a mat. There were words woven into the coarse fibers which read "Welcome Traitors."

"I don't like the feel of this." Barret told his comrades. "It's like he's not afraid of us at all. After we beat Sephiroth and Kadaj, and Shinra… He has to know how strong we are and we know nothing about him!"

"No." Rude countered strongly. "He's already underestimated us twice with the robots; I think he's cocky and overconfident. You all heard what he said in the first recording, he expects us to be whittled down. He's hopping to just fight Cloud, and maybe a few others."

"Huh, I didn't think about that…" Barret responded, rubbing his stubble as he thought. "I suppose everyone does know that spiky-but here is the strongest." he laughed gesturing to Cloud.

"Ok, here's the suggested plan:" Reeve's voice came encouragingly through over the airwaves. "We bank on the fact that he thinks there's less of us. Move in slowly, one small group at a time, and split up if there's room. Don't engage the remnant right away, try to get him talking. If he has anything in common with Kadaj or Sephiroth he will gladly go into detail about how great Jenova is and how futile it is to resist her. Let him ramble, if you can, leaving time for everyone to get in place. As soon as I hear the remnant's voice over the radio I'm going to send in the troops to your position."

Reeve's plan was good, but Cloud noticed one detail missing. "Reeve…" the swordsman began. "Where exactly does this door lead?"

"That's a good question… let me get back to my computer." Reeve responded. The team tried to picture what Reeve had been doing back at base camp to draw him away from the computers.

"My estimations put us close to the number three reactor." Shelke announced simply.

"Right on." Reeve confirmed a moment later. "Your GPS signal marks you as being right in front of the mako reactor access port."

"I don't like this." Cloud said firmly. "We're missing something. He chose a mako reactor for a reason… Everyone stay on your toes." Cloud turned suddenly and scanned his eyes over his comrades. "Three groups then: Yuffie, Cid and Vincent with me; we'll go in straight. Tseng, take the Turks and look for high ground. Tifa, the rest are with you, try to find a way around the side." The fighters nodded, accepting the arrangement. And Cloud broke from his serious expression for just a moment to give a more light-hearted go-ahead. "Ok everyone, let's mosey."

Cloud had never been inside this mako reactor. And as he entered the outermost areas he took stock of the uniqueness of the structure. Shinra, the company responsible for the presence of the reactors, had never built two the same way. The technology of how to make the machines more efficient increasing faster than the reactors could be put into production. Despite the differences, however, all mako reactors had certain things in common, and all of them seemed to have the same unnerving atmosphere. When this phenomenon was first observed, scientists passed it off as superstition.

It was discovered later, decades after the Shinra had begun construction on the many mako reactors, that the giant machines were literally siphoning the life out of the planet. Since that discovery, it has been suggested that the negative feeling surrounding the reactors was actually caused by the lack of life force in the area. It was said that the human soul could feel the death, that a person naturally did not want to abide in a place where he or she could not feel the life of the planet.

This same feeling of dread and death washed over the entire team as they entered the long abandoned mako reactor. …A reactor that was supposed to have been shut off years ago, but was, for some unknown reason, still active.

"Ok, here's where we separate." Cloud announced to the group. He strode across the room, past the dusty computer consoles illuminated by a few flickering florescent lights. The sand and gravel of his boots ground noisily into the steel grate floor. Cloud headed straight across to door on the opposite side, with Vincent, Cid, and Yuffie following closely behind him. Cloud wrenched open the door, the decrepit hinges complaining loudly at his abuse. Beyond was darkness, and even though the enhanced swordsman usually had no problem with any lack of light, Cloud was forced to remove his sunglasses before he could make out the narrow corridor before him.

The four warriors proceeded forward. At first, Cloud thought that perhaps they had gone too far, that perhaps this corridor led somewhere other than the reactor. But then the passage turned, revealing the light of the next room. Cloud recognized the layout even in the dim light. The core of the reactor was illuminated by the soft green light emanating from the mako energy the machine was drawing out of the planet. A human shadow passed in front of the light. Cloud began to walk forward slowly.

"That's close enough Cloud." a voice called out. The legendary swordsman recognized the voice from the two recording boxes they had encountered. This was the voice of the remnant Samuru.

Cloud saw the walkway in front of him, not more than a few yards until the threshold leading into the next room. And beyond, a catwalk, suspended over the deep well dug to accommodate mako extraction. In the center of the room was the core machine of the mako reactor, a large mostly spherical structure with many protruding pipes and cables. Gauges and readouts dominated the housing of the machinery, with many knobs and levers beneath them. The catwalk leading from the main access port Cloud was standing in widened as it reached the central area, spreading around the machinery and branching off in diverse directions leading to other areas of the reactor complex.

Just to the left of the mako reactor core, Cloud noticed and unusual piece of machinery. It did not seem to be part of the original design and appeared to have been hastily attached to the reactor by many makeshift wires and pipes. Several small orbs glowed softly from small cradles in this new machine, and another orb was held in a larger cradle higher up, but this one did not glow. Beside this makeshift machine was a small desk, also littered with wires, and adorned with a simple laptop computer into which the wires seemed to be connected. Behind the desk and laptop sat a man in worn jeans and leather jacket. He was older than Cloud would have thought, and if it had not been for the glowing green eyes and short silver hair the warrior might have passed off this frail looking man as a janitor.

Cloud stepped forward. The remnant hit a key on the laptop. And before any of the warriors in the corridor had time to react the floor gave way beneath them. It was a short drop of about eighteen inches into a shallow trough of water. Yuffie started to laugh at the seemingly comical move, until her voice was constricted by the sharp current of electricity coursing through her body. Cid fell twitching into the water. Vincent dug his claw gauntlet deep into the wall beside him in an attempt to steady the spasms, and aimed his gun over Cloud's shoulder. A flash of light punctuated each shot, deflected by a magical barrier between the gunman and the remnant.

Cloud too struggled to control his muscles as the coursing electricity continued to interfere with the signals from his brain. Usually an electrical attack came in short bursts, the swordsman thought to himself. Where is all this power coming from? Shouldn't a fuse have blown already? Cloud looked around frantically as the strength quickly drained from his body. He caught sight of a pair of thick cables strung under the catwalk from the reactor to the trough of water he was standing in.

Cloud lurched forward, his scorched legs refusing to offer a proper step. As he fell, he brought his sword, the First Tsurugi down hard against the metal grating of the catwalk in front of him. The sword dug into the steel and pierced the insulated cable strung up just underneath. Cloud's elbows splashed into the shallow water as an arc of blinding blue light filled the gaps between the separate parts of the sword. Cloud's nose was filled with the smell of burning flesh and he lost feeling in his arms. The First Tsurugi exploded into its various components, the pair of cables fell down swinging into the deep well beneath, and the coursing electricity stopped.

Cloud looked forward as he lay in the water, propped up by his elbows. The various parts of his sword were imbedded deep in the catwalk in front of him, or the ground beside him, or the walls around him. The smoking core of his sword was still held fast in his grasp, the blackened flesh of his hands having melted to the grip. This had been no simple electrical attack, Cloud realized. The remnant had probably given them enough voltage to light up half of the sector.

The remnant laughed. "I did tell you not to come any closer." he added viciously.

Vincent's deep voice came urgently from behind. "Yuffie, use the revive materia now!"

Cloud rolled over and spun his head wildly. Vincent was slumped against the wall, his left hand still dug in for support, his face staring intently down at were Cid lay unmoving in the water. Yuffie flopped forward in an instant, disregarding her damaged body's refusal to comply gracefully. With blinding speed the ninja pressed her left hand down on the chest of her fallen comrade, a small green materia set into a circular slot on her armband began to glow, and a white light began to spread and diffuse into the body of the aged pilot.

Cid's eyes flew open as his whole body spasmed in pain, tossing the young ninja off of him unintentionally. A generous outpouring of loud coughs and colorful profanity let the rest of the group know that he had also gained back full use of his lungs. Yuffie fumbled a shaking hand around for something in her pockets, before Vincent interrupted her.

"Save your strength, I've got the restore materia." That having been said, the gunman turned his attention to his own materia bracer, fastened to his left arm just above his claw-gauntlet. Two orbs of materia glowed, one blue and one green, as all four of the warriors present were filled with the rejuvenating magic. Cloud felt his burned flesh re-knit itself as it separated from the handle of his sword. And ass the feeling returned to the warrior's arms and the strength returned to his muscles, the legendary warrior stood, noting that the other three members of his party were doing the same.

"Ah yes, the famous thirty second limit, though I am not bound by that limitation" the remnants voice called out mocking. "You should be thankful for the quick reflexes of your friends Cid Highwind."

The old pilot cast his eyes down in embarrassment. He had not before realized how close he had come to a permanent death.

The remnant continued. "Actually I'm surprised he was the only one that went down. I would understand Vincent or Cloud still standing, as the two of you were so heavily altered by science. But Yuffie Kisaragi?" The remnant shook his head in disbelief. "You must have a very strong heart young Lord of Wutai. That was quite a potent jolt you just lived through." Yuffie glared at the remnant for calling her "Lord," but she said nothing. She would remember that for later.

Cloud on the other hand, was becoming increasingly unnerved by how familiar the remnant seemed to be with the details of their group. "You seem to know a bit about us," he began carefully. "But we know very little about you."

"Of course! I'm sorry. We haven't been properly introduced yet have we?" the remnant began with a smile. "But first I think the rest of your friends should be let in on the conversation. They became quite worried about you when your transmitter was fried by my electric greeting." Cloud reached his hand up to the radio in his ear. It was quiet. He tore it out and threw it frustratingly to the ground.

"We have to find out what happened to Cloud!" It was Tifa's voice, and it seemed to be coming from near the remnant. Cloud scanned his eyes frantically, but saw no other figure than the smiling remnant, seated behind his laptop.

"Proceed quietly and with caution." Reeve's voice came from nowhere. "If Cloud has fallen into a trap it will do no good if you walk right into it yourself."

Cloud instantly realized that he was listening to a radio communication between Tifa and Reeve, and that the sound was being generated by the remnant's computer.

"You Jerk!" Yuffie yelled out incredulously. "Have you been listening to us the whole time?"

Reeve's voice responded instantly. "Wait! That was Yuffie! What happened? Where's Cloud?"

"Oh don't worry about them Reeve," The remnant conveyed softly into his computer. "They're here with me and they are all fine. Their transmitters were just… damaged a bit, that's all."

For a moment, there was no response. Then Reeve's voice came back speaking carefully. "Who is this?"

"My name is Samuru, the one you call 'the remnant,' though that title is not strictly accurate." he replied. "… and to answer young Ms. Kisaragi question: Yes. I have been listening to your little radio communication 'the whole time.'" The sound of Reno cursing came clearly through the laptop speakers. "… and yes I know that you are all still alive, and moving in to surround me, while Cloud was supposed to keep me talking, a job you didn't do very well I might add." he said aside to the swordsman. "I know that Reeve has already sent in the troops by helicopter, and I know that it all really doesn't matter… Because I have already won."


	10. Chapter 9: The Flame of the Phoenix

The Phoenix Eye

Chapter 9

The Flame of the Phoenix

_-- Midgar, Reactor No. 3, a Moment Later:_

Samuru made a dramatic exaggeration of lowering his finger slowly and depressing a button on his laptop. Behind him the makeshift machine with the glowing orbs began humming. The topmost cradle, which had until this time remained dormant, began to glow with dark purple energies. The rough black stone inside the metal cradle began floating in the coursing light, refracting a myriad of muted colors across the room.

"Come everyone." the remnant called into the open room. "I know you're there, and I want you all to see this. Come Tifa, I know you and your team are hiding just behind that door to my left. And I know that the Turks are on the floor above me, come on out on the catwalk where I can see you."

The rest of the team grudgingly emerged from their respective hiding spots as Samuru had instructed. Cloud was quietly reassembling his First Tsurugi as Tifa cam into view on the opposite side of the room. As their eyes met, anxiety faded from Tifa's expression, the sudden loss of communication between the two having strained her emotions greatly. The Turks also came forward slowly, weapons drawn, expressions severe. They did not like being toyed with.

"That's close enough." Everyone froze, remembering what had happened the last time this order had been given and disobeyed. "Now that everyone is here, except of course for Reeve Tsuesti, who is on his way with the military, I will show you what I have made."

Samuru stood and turned his back on Cloud, taking a few steps to the machine behind him with the glowing orbs.

"This machine…" he began mockingly, using a tone expected of a museum's tour guide. "…uses mako energy to activate materia. So instead of utilizing the limited energies of my own body to cast spells, I use the unlimited energies of the planet itself."

"You won't be using the planet's life for your twisted machine!" Barret called from his position on the catwalk. A split second later his mechanical gun arm was hosing bullets at the slender remnant and his lopsided machine. And just as had happened with Vincent, a semi-spherical wall of light manifested as the bullets reached the threshold. Everyone ducked as stray shots ricocheted wildly around the room. The gunner kept up his attack, expecting the magical barrier to succumb to the overwhelming gunfire, as all such barriers eventually did. But Barret's magazine ran empty, the entire room having been perforated except for the area immediately around where the remnant was standing.

Samuru was smiling. "Please don't interrupt, Mr. Wallace." he called back softly. He calmly returned his attention to the machine. "As you have just witnessed, materia used in my machine is amplified beyond its normal power limits. This barrier materia," he said, gesturing to one of the glowing orbs in the machine and just in front of his hand, "has become so strong as to render me virtually invincible, as demonstrated by your large wild friend." Samuru smiled again at Barret. "This second one I haven't used yet, and will keep a surprise for now. Where as this simple lightning materia," he said moving to the third orb in the row, "has been amplified to generate a very powerful, very constant, stream of deadly electricity. The effects of which were experienced first hand by Cloud and his comrades."

The group turned towards Cloud, who had finished assembling his sword. The metal of the weapon was now streaked with black where the electric current had disrupted the tempered steel crystal and caused it to fuse with the melted dust particles from the surrounding air. Cloud's clothing and armor was burnt and frazzled, Vincent's cure spell having done little for his appearance. The rest of the group understood now why Cloud's group had been lost from the communication link. Thinking back on the electrical attack, Cloud remembered something peculiar the remnant had said.

"Samuru." the swordsman queried carefully. "When Yuffie used the life spell on Cid, you mentioned the universal thirty second limitation on restoring life. But you then said that you were not restricted by that limitation. What does that mean?"

"Don't get ahead of the story Cloud," the remnant responded condescendingly. "I was just about to get to that part." Samuru turned his attention to the fourth cradle, higher up than the other three, being almost even with the remnant's chin. Contained with in was the black stone, currently absorbing a great amount of swirling purple energies like some miniature representation of a black-hole swallowing the burning gas of a nearby star. "This… is a very unique conglomeration of melted and re-crystallized materia. According to legend, it was formed when the fire god Phoenix died, high up on the Da-Chao Mountains, fighting to protect the people from the gods of evil. The legend continues saying that as the people mourned for their god, their tears brought the beast back to life, the great bird bursting into existence in a great ball of flame, melting the nearby rocks and sandy soil into a bowl of black glass. As the great fire god flew up into the clouds, the stories say that he returned a single tear back down to the people who had saved him. The tear fell onto the hot glass-like bowl, breaking off a small piece as the tear cooled the spot it touched. This shard of obsidian was a powerful artifact, and came to be known as the Phoenix Eye. This very same stone that I have right here."

"That's a lie!" Yuffie yelled at the remnant. "The Phoenix Eye was destroyed by my Uncle Lord Goshen during the war against Shinra. And it wasn't made of obsidian, it was a ruby pendant held in place by a gold phoenix. And he destroyed it with his sword to keep in out of the hands of Shinra."

Samuru laughed. It started as a simple chuckle, but quickly expanded into full blown I'm-a-mad-scientist maniacal laughter. "No, my sweet young ignorant Wutaian flower…" Yuffie glared at him, trying to decide whether or not he was insulting her. "The ruby pendant your uncle destroyed was a fake. A decoy. That stubborn Wutaian warlord was too proud to destroy his nation's only hope for defeating the Shinra. So he tricked Sephiroth and everyone else by letting himself be killed in the very act of destroying the fake stone."

"That can't be true!" Yuffie argued back. "My father would have told me."

"Lord Godo never knew!" the remnant countered. "He never bothered to read the ancient texts detailing how the ruby pendant was made in order to fool would-be thieves. How the legendary Sword of House Kisaragi was specially constructed to house the real Phoenix Eye concealed carefully in the handle. Or how the ceremonial prayer was invented, and carved into the blade to give the Wutaian king an excuse to hold the sword in front of him, pretending to read the prayer – which I'm sure they all had memorized anyway – while in reality, slipping his thumb carefully under the fabric of the sword grip to touch the materia stone hidden inside."

"So, that's why you killed Professor Stian." Nanaki's soft voice interrupted from behind the remnant. "The professor must have read the ancient texts and discovered the truth about the Phoenix Eye. And when he snuck into the Kisaragi manor to prove his theory, you killed him and took the stone."

"Very good." Samuru said smiling. "You always were the intelligent one Nanaki."

"But why these games?" Cloud asked warily. "Why bring us down here just to hide behind a barrier boasting of your exploits. You have to know by now that you can't overpower all of us."

"Come Cloud, are you really that dense?" Samuru said laughing. "Did I not tell you that I already won? Tell me, traitor, what do all children of Jenova want to happen?"

"Reunion." came Cloud's response, echoing the voices he had heard in his head so many times.

"Very good, and you Yuffie Kisaragi, just in case your friends do not know the stories, what is the foremost power and purpose of the Phoenix Eye?"

Yuffie stared at the remnant, her eyes widening in shock as she realized the sinister possibilities of the black obsidian stone gathering energies behind him. "To… To bring the dead back to life. Having no limit to how long they've been dead."

Everyone stared at Samuru.

"Do you understand now Cloud? Sephiroth and Kadaj both attempted to bring to pass the reunion. But where they have failed, I will succeed. All thanks to the power of the Phoenix Eye."

"I've heard enough." Vincent's gravelly dark voice came from behind Cloud. The swordsman spun around to witness Vincent Valentine holster his traditional tri-barelled handgun Cerberus, and pull forth a larger weapon known as The Death Penalty. Turning on the Power to his prototype railgun, Vincent gave the rest of the group one final piece of advice, before leveling his sights on the remnant. "No mater how strong his barrier is, it can't hold up forever."

The custom tritanium round was magnetically propelled from Vincent's chosen weapon, approaching close to the speed of light by the time it had exited the barrel. The projectile crashed into the magical protection field, atomizing on impact. The entirety of the barrier lit up with the energy of the blow, becoming an opaque glowing sphere for a fraction of a second. Several more shots exploded from Vincent's gun as the rest of the team sprang into action, drawing their weapons and moving forward, or unloading gunfire of their own.

Between the flashes of light that marked the impacts against the protective barrier, Samuru could be seen calmly stepping over to his desk and pressing another key on his laptop. The last orb of materia, the only one that the remnant had not yet activated, began to glow red. To the eyes of all present, the vast room began to become dark and faded, like a tinted lens was being drawn over their eyes. Sound's deadened and seemed distant. The air grew cold, and throughout the room, hearts began to beat faster. Everyone recognized the effect of energy being drawn in to form a summon spell. But this effect was far stronger than that of any summon they had ever before experienced.

Shards of light materialized throughout the room, floating around and in-between the fighters like thousands and thousands of fireflies. For a moment, the fighting stopped, the group being transfixed by the spectacle surrounding them. But the sparkling lights shifted their momentum, and began flowing together at various points around the room, condensing into the magical constructs known as 'summons.' Usually a summon spell would produce one such creature, its body composed of congealed magical energies, to fight and do the bidding of its creator.

But as the twelve fighters scanned the room it was quickly realized that more than one summon was forming. On every surface, under the catwalks and across the walls of the reactor's core chamber, hundreds of spider-like creatures were taking shape. Standing from the floor, the summons stood about three feet high, half a man's height, and had a leg span of about eight feet. Each of the arachnoid creations kept six dexterous legs fastened to the floor, wall or surface it resided on. While an additional pair of appendages swung menacingly in front of the creatures, brandishing scythe like talons curved to wickedly sharp points. The summons advanced on the surrounded fighters.

Each member of Cloud's team sprang reflexively into action. Each had been participants in countless battles before and knew how to defend themselves in the face of overwhelming odds.

"These things are creepy!" Yuffie complained as her Shuriken exploded through a nearby spider-creature, its destroyed body evaporating in black smoke.

"Hey." Cid called back to her, dispatching his own group of monsters with his spear. "At least there not real and spilling insect guts all over the place."

"Eww! Just ewwww!" the young ninja responded.

Cloud destroyed a dozen of the menacing creatures with a single sweep of his giant sword. But no sooner had here cleared the space around him than several more of the creatures began taking shape in the empty space. Distant scratching and shuffling noises told the swordsman that more of the pests lurked beyond the reactor core room, scrambling to enter and get their piece of the action. Cloud glanced back at Samuru, who was standing peacefully behind his protective barrier, watching the battle around him with calm confidence.

Tifa was punching and kicking, folding the hairy creatures in half or sending them rocketing across the room to splatter on the far walls. Barret was hurling a constant stream of bullets and profanity at the approaching monsters, using a hard punch or heavy boot to crush those that got too close. Cid spent most of his time in the air, using the agility of his "dragon style" martial arts to give him the appearance of flying. Quick jabs from the pilot's spear skewered many of the creatures, while long sweeping strikes sent them crashing into one another. Nanaki bounded from platform to platform, shredding the summons with his swift claws or crushing them with his powerful jaws. When the old warrior wasn't carving a swath of destruction, he was using his repertoire of materia to cast healing and protection spells on his allies as it was needed.

Yuffie was also soaring through the air between the catwalks, catching and throwing her shuriken repeatedly at distant targets while slaying closer ones with the smaller ninja weapons at her disposal. Vincent had transformed into the demon Death Gigas, who was pounding walls, beams, and catwalks with his giant fists, crushing some of the creatures while sending bolts of electricity through the metal to dislodge others and send them falling into the depths of the mako well beneath them. Shelke had drawn her twin fighting knives and was weaving a dance of death and destruction too fast for anyone present to follow.

The Turks dominated the upper platforms. Tseng and Elena stood back to back, firing their handguns with pinpoint precision, turning in tandem to face new opponents. Like Tifa, Rude destroyed his share of creatures with his hands and feet, utilizing his own brutal martial arts style. While Reno whacked, stabbed, and shocked his opponents into submission with his infamous electro-mag-rod.

Cloud took in everything. They were all doing well, but it wasn't enough. No one was attacking the remnant.

"This is just a distraction." Cloud yelled out fervently. "As long as he hides behind that barrier he can keep summoning these things indefinitely." Cloud took out another score of the spider creatures with multiple sweeps of his sword.

"This is some distraction." Yuffie responded, her breath winded.

"Yeah," Barret agreed between reloading his gun. "What are supposed to do? Let these things chew on our legs while we pound that coward behind his shell?"

Cloud became more insistent. "We have to try! We have to destroy that machine before he finishes what he's doing. Reeve… If you can hear me, this would be a good time for you to show up."

"Almost there." Reeve's voice responded through the speaker on Samuru's laptop. "Though there appears to be some kinds of giant insect crawling all over the outside of the reactor…" The remnant reached over and cut the volume on his computer, severing the link from those who had lost their communicator.

"We're fighting those things inside the reactor." Tifa explained, her two-way radio earpiece working just fine.

"Tell him to get his butt down here and help us out!" Cloud hollered.

"Cloud says get your butt down here and help out." Tifa relayed with a bemused smile.

"Can we do enough damage to break the barrier in between fighting these things?" Yuffie asked with a desperate tone.

"We have to try!" Cloud called out determinedly. "All clear for Ultima!"

Yuffie, Shelke, and Nanaki immediately vacated the area around Samuru and his sphere of protection, as they recognized the standard warning that preceded all uses of the most powerful single attack spell the world had ever known. Blinding light burst forth from a small materia orb contained in the first slot nearest the hilt of the powerful First Tsurugi. In the small instant between the initialization of the spell and its release, all was quiet. Cloud drew in the massive amounts of energy required for the devastating spell, his enhanced body able to harness power far beyond that of a regular human. In that very split instant, as every fighter and creature, every pipe cable and steel beam was cast into relief by the piercing light of the activated Ultima materia, Cloud's gaze met with Samuru's, and for the first time he saw fear in the remnant's eyes.

A beam of raw concentrated energy shot forth from Cloud's sword, disintegrating any of the summons unfortunate to have been in the way. The chaotic energies exploded into the magical barrier surrounding the remnant, billowing around it like fire, warping and twisting the metallic structure of the mako reactor and its attached accessories. More spider creatures succumbed to the expanding sphere of pure destructive energy. The shining ball of death continued to grow until it reached its critical size, and then it faded, the spell energies depleted. Samuru stood unharmed beside his machine, though he was no longer smiling.

Death Gigas strode forward past Cloud and slammed his giant fist into the defensive energy field. The sphere of light returned to block his blow, but it shuddered at the impact. To the surrounding fighters the barrier appeared less stable than it had been before. Samuru sat down urgently at his desk and began typing at his computer. The summoned monsters resumed their attacks with added vigor and the machine behind the remnant began to hum more loudly.

"Ok let's do this!" Cid called as he jumped into the air. His spinning spear sweeping aside several monsters before it turned to crash down on the barrier in Cid's patented "dragon dive" maneuver. Cloud split his sword into two parts, keeping up an almost constant stream of attacks against the sphere with one weapon while cleaning out summons with the other. Yuffie found time in between her fighting to unleash a few choice selections from her personal collection of attack materia, and the rest of the group quickly followed suit, finding some spell or special attack to drop on the remnant when time and energy allowed.

Slowly the intensity of the barrier began to fade, and Samuru's expression became increasingly nervous. From beyond the limits of the room came the sounds of military support, as machine gun and mortar fire rained into the monsters outside. The WRO was closing in. Then the remnant did something that Cloud did not understand. He stopped typing at his computer, closed the laptop, and stood up, taking place at the far end of the barrier beside his machine. This confused Cloud and the others. Were they too late? …Or was he simply giving up? The barrier collapsed in a deafening crack and one part of Cloud's First Tsurugi found its way into the materia machine. Sparks flew and the glowing light of mako faded from the three materia orbs and from the Phoenix Eye. The summoned monsters faded from existence and the sounds of approaching soldiers filled the passages beyond the room. Cloud's other blade was pressed to the remnant's neck, daring him to make a move.

Reeve and the WRO flooded onto the catwalks as Cloud's team closed in to confront the remnant. Samuru did not move, but stood against the wall with a small determined smile cracking across his lips. Vincent shifted out of his demon form and leveled his gun at the remnant. Almost every other weapon in the room was doing the same.

"Don't you have anything to say?" Cloud asked the remnant sternly.

"It doesn't matter if you beat me." Samuru responded softly. "It doesn't matter if you kill me. Mother will always return. Mother will win no matter what you do to me."

"Humph." Reno snorted. "You remnants are all the same. 'Mother this' and 'Mother that' and blindly following that rotting old parasite to your own doom and destruction."

The remnant did not honor Reno's comment with a response.

"Well Cloud, Reeve…" Tseng began as he approached Samuru. "Would you mind if the Turks took care of imprisoning the remnant until a trial can be scheduled. We haven't had much to do since the decline of Shinra and we do sort of specialize in this kind of thing.

Reeve looked to Cloud, who nodded and withdrew his sword from the remnant's neck. "He's all yours for now." the WRO president informed the Turks.

Rude grabbed Samuru's arm and twisted it behind his back, grabbing the back of the remnant's collar with his other hand.

Reno laughed mockingly. "You don't put up much of a fight yourself do you?" he asked sarcastically as the Turks began to lead remnant towards the exit.

Yuffie quickly ran over and began collecting the various materia that the remnant had used against them. The first three materia orbs she pocketed quickly, but her hand paused as she reached to the fourth cradle, the lifeless black stone resting dormant in the metallic bowl.

"So this is the Phoenix Eye." Yuffie said to herself. "I never thought I would actually see it." The ninja stood transfixed as the dim lights of the room refracted off of the obsidian surface lined with veins of red and green. "With this I could make Wutai powerful and great …like we once were."

"Be careful Yuffie." Nanaki's wise voice cautioned her. "Wars have been fought over that stone. In this time of peace it might be better to finish what your uncle started, and destroy it."

"But Wutai is so small… so weak." Yuffie protested, casting her eyes to the ground in shame. "We used to be strong."

"Since the fall of Shinra, and Wutai's return to freedom, the nation has been recovering." Reeve interjected. "Would you want to start a new war? That's really the only real way the stone could be used for power and glory."

Yuffie clenched her fists and shut her eyes, torn with internal desires. Everyone was watching the ninja and young leader of Wutai to see her decision. None more intently than the remnant Samuru.

Yuffie shook her head violently. "I'm not going to start a war, but I'm also not going to destroy the Phoenix Eye. It belongs to me and to Wutai. And I will decide how best to use it."

With that the young ninja shot her hand forward and snatched the coveted artifact. In one quick motion she moved to pocket the stone along with her other materia but her hand stopped before it reached the pouch. Yuffie's arm shot forward again, this time in the motion of throwing the Phoenix Eye, but the stone remained in her fingers.

"Somebody help me! Its burning me!" the ninja screamed.

The closest of the warriors rushed forward and attempted to pry the obsidian stone from her fingers. But her hand was stuck fast to the rock, which was now beginning to glow red with heat. Samuru, the remnant, was laughing.

"What did you do?" Reno screamed at the remnant who was still held fast in Rude's grip. "What's happening to her?"

Samuru laughed again. "She has finished my spell. The last heir to the Kisaragi clan has touched the Phoenix Eye. She should be proud to have completed the reunion." The remnant laughed louder now and Reno smashed his electro-mag-rod into the man's face cracking his jaw. Samuru went limp in Rude's arms.

A shockwave exploded from the Phoenix Eye, which was now glowing a bright white, illuminating the room. The soldiers and friends who had been trying to free the ninja's hand were thrown back with the force of the energy. Yuffie was still attached to the artifact, the sound and smell of burning flesh apparent to all in the room. The ninja screamed again in pain. Slowly the orb began rising into the air, first dragging Yuffie across the floor, and then picking her up off the ground entirely. She grasped her left hand fiercely to her right arm which was still attached to the floating rock, trying to prevent the limb from being torn out of its socket all together. Her jaw clenched hard, tears of extreme pain streaming down her cheeks as the Phoenix Eye erupted in purple flame.

Another shock wave tore forth from the singularity and the young ninja was finally free of the tormenting artifact. The force of the energy threw her down hard towards the depths of the cavern below, far faster than if she had merely fallen. In the time it took most present to even recognize that Yuffie was in danger, Vincent leapt across the chasm and retrieved the young Lord of Wutai, landing safely on the far catwalk. The dark flames emanating from the Phoenix Eye began to spread, take shape, and then condensing, forming the outline of a humanoid figure.

"Everyone needs to get out of here." Cloud said sternly, staring at the face of the forming figure in front of him, which, though it did not yet have eyes, seemed to all present to be staring back at Cloud.

"It's Sephiroth, isn't it?" Tifa demanded urgently. "The remnant has resurrected Sephiroth!"

"No." Cloud responded. "Not Sephiroth…" The burning face was smiling at him now, the coalescing energies forming into green slitted eyes. The face… He would know that face anywhere, even though he had never actually seen it except in his dreams. The purple light congealed into the tangible body of a slender naked female form. Silver hair coursed down her back as she spread her black feathered wings.

Cloud recited the name of the abomination before him. "…Jenova."


	11. Chapter 10: The New Goddess

The Phoenix Eye

Chapter 10

The New Goddess

_-- Midgar, Outside Reactor No. 3, Moments Later:_

The soldiers of the WRO poured from the entrance to the number three reactor as black smoke billowed from every opening in the structure. Following close behind were Cloud and his friends, as well as the Turks, dragging along a coughing and sputtering remnant. Multiple explosions tore through the night air, knocking many of the soldiers of off their feet and foreshadowing the imminent destruction of the reactor. WRO helicopters descended into the streets of Midgar at a safe distance around the reactor forming a loose semi-circle towards which the WRO troops re-grouped. While the soldiers formed ranks around the descending helicopters waiting for the order to evacuate, one man descended from his helicopter on a cable, not wanting to wait for his ride to touch ground. As Reeve landed on the rain-soaked asphalt and quickly removed his rappelling harness, he glanced around quickly for the person he needed to talk with. Finding his mark, Reeve moved forward to meet him.

"Cloud, is everybody out?" Reeve asked his friend urgently.

Cloud glanced around him, taking a quick head count of his party. "We're all here, and I didn't see any WRO being left behind."

"Ok good! So how do we kill this thing?" Reeve Demanded. "Would it help to call in the artillery?"

Cloud lowered his brow in puzzlement, the question of how to kill Jenova not having previously entered his mind. "Um, I don't know…" he responded scratching his head. "I suppose it's worth a shot."

Reeve nodded at Cloud. He then took a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves and stay in control of the situation, before picking up his radio and depressing the transmitter. "Ok, I want all available firepower on the number three reactor and I want it there five seconds ago!"

In an instant the WRO troops changed from an attitude or retreat to that of an entrenched offensive. The thundering boom of distant artillery echoed across the scene of soldiers assembling grenade launchers, rocket emplacements, and mortar teams. While those who had no such heavy weapons began piling up rubble to form light cover and defensive positions. The WRO soldiers were quick and efficient due to extensive training and had the first volley of explosives launched only a few moments after the first artillery shells began cometing into the building.

It only took a few minutes for the efforts of the WRO's attack from the outside combined with the destructive energies already gathered on the inside to completely level the structure beyond recognition. Reeve then called for a cease-fire to let the dust settle.

"Do you think its dead?" Barret asked President Reeve.

"I very much doubt it" he responded simply.

The last of the sailing artillery shells pounded into what was once the number three reactor. Slowly the flames died, choked of fuel and oxygen. The settling dust and rising smoke formed into a spiraling canopy, illuminated by flickering green and purple flashes in much the same way as an oil lamp would illuminate a frosted glass globe surrounding it.

"What is that light coming from?" Barret asked no one in particular, his mind fascinated by the haunting spectacle.

"Probably the mako energy from the reactor." Reeve explained. "I've told you all before that you cannot ever truly turn these things off. Once the machines start extracting the mako it keeps flowing, even if you turn off the machines or cap the well."

"Mako." Barret said with a frown. "Well that explains the green flashes but what about the purple ones?"

Reeve opened his mouth to respond but Nanaki beat him to it. "It is Jenova." the old warrior stated, echoing what many of them had already determined. "She is feeding on the mako energy."

"Well I'm tired of waiting." Cloud announced walking forward. "What we need is some wind to help clear this dust so we can see what we're up against." Cloud then turned his attention toward his four-legged friend. "Nanaki, do you still have that mastered contain materia?"

The old warrior smiled as he comprehended Cloud's implication. "Why yes, I even have it equipped."

Nanaki closed his eyes in concentration as he activated the materia located in the bangle on his right front paw. Within moments the cloud of smoke and debris surrounding the former reactor was assaulted by a miniature tornado. Though the wind blew fiercely at the ruins in front of them, the WRO soldiers felt little more than a gentle breeze, since they were well beyond the magic of this unnatural storm. All too soon, however, the spell ended.

A veritable inferno of coursing mako energy poured fourth from the depths of the ruined reactor. smoky tentacles of purplish-black energy writhed and twisted, mingling with the green mako, absorbing it, consuming the planet's life blood. Centered in the eye of the maelstrom floated the being known as Jenova. She hovered seemingly without effort, protected by an incandescent spherical shield as she absorbed the surrounding mako. Her features were feminine, and mostly human. But there was something wrong about her proportions apparent to all who looked at her. Her face was too gaunt, her eyes too far apart, her arms and legs were too long, her body arched in the wrong places. To all who observed her she seemed immediately… alien. Jenova opened her eyes and looked down on the gathered crowd, her black feathered wings forming a sharp backdrop to her pale silhouette, her slitted pupils narrowed, and her green irises glowed from inside her black eye balls.

Jenova smiled. And a shockwave of dark energy exploded from her naked form. The nearby defenders all braced for the attack, but the wave washed over them seemingly without effect. Reno started to laugh, until the first of the coughing was heard. Within moments nearly a third of the WRO troops had collapsed in fits of coughing and vomiting and even those who remained standing were doubled over in pain. Reeve spun around in all directions, taking mental stock of the conditions of his men. The best of them were disoriented; the worst were coughing blood and going into convulsions. Above the din was heard a laughter that could only have belonged to Jenova.

Reeve pulled his radio to his mouth once again and depressed the transmitter. "Get everyone out! I want a complete evacuation of the sector now! If there's no one to fly the helicopter set the computer on autopilot back to base."

Reeve looked up once again to find Cloud and his team gathering around him. Surprisingly, none of them seemed to be suffering any ill effects from Jenova's attacks. It was only then that Reeve realized that he also had not been affected.

"Why are you not evacuating?" Reeve asked in confusion, though he was more puzzled by their apparent health when all others were suffering, than he was by their insubordination.

"We're fighting." Tifa informed him flatly.

An approaching coughing alerted Reeve to the fact that someone else wasn't following his orders. He spun around to meet four coughing bloodshot Turks. Reno held his hand to his mouth to stem the tide of almost constant coughing. Rude toted a heavily hacking Samuru, wile letting the occasional cough escape his own lips. Elena leaned heavily on Tseng who, although he stood the straightest, appeared to be in the most pain.

Reeve scowled. "And why aren't YOU evacuating?" he demanded.

"Hey!" Reno responded between fights of coughing. "…We're with Shinra… not the WRO… You can't order us around… any more then them!" Reno finished, pointing at Cloud.

"You guys aren't in any shape to fight like that." Cid bellowed out. "You'll just get in the way."

Reno tried to protest but another round of coughing interrupted him. Reeve decided to take the opportunity to add his own argument.

"Cid's right," Reeve began. "The most help you can be right now is to help get the men out and to get that remnant to a holding cell."

The Turks looked down at Samuru, hacking and coughing worse than any of them and almost limp in Rude's arms.

"Hey wait a second," Reno suddenly called out. "How come none of you were affected?"

"We don't know." Nanaki stated simply. "And we don't have time to discuss it."

"Oh but I suppose Reeve is going to stay and fight?" Reno argued, obviously disappointed in the prospect of missing the action.

"No." Reeve informed the Turk, his expression becoming grim. "I'm returning to base to prepare for the worst." He looked back towards Cloud and company. "If you fail, I'll level the city. And whatever else it takes to stop her." Suddenly Reeve's expression lightened slightly to reveal a devious grin. "Though I suppose there is one thing I could do to help.

Everyone present eyed the WRO president with curiosity. Reeve lifted the radio once again and spoke into the transmitter. "Helicopter number seven, do you still have the prototype on board?"

A hacking cough came back over the radio, followed by a muffled "yes sir."

"Well throw it off." Reeve commanded. "You'll need the space for evacuees and I think now would be a good time for a test run."

Reeve turned towards one of the nearby helicopters and everyone else followed his gaze. They watched as the men onboard struggled with a large crate, before dumping it unceremoniously out the door. The crate landed with a crack, splitting part way open to reveal a small portion of foam padding inside. Reeve pulled what looked like a remote control from one of his pockets and depressed one of the buttons. For a moment, nothing happened. Then the crate began warping and splitting as something pushed at its walls from the inside. A large ape like form burst from the crate, casting aside wooden debris and pieces of foam indiscriminately.

A moment later a small figure, resembling a stuffed cat came out of the remnants of the crate, jumped up the back of the giant mog, and perched on its shoulders.

"Cait Sith!" Tifa exclaimed to Reeve in astonishment. "But I thought the last robot was destroyed!"

"It was." Reeve said smiling. "We've been reverse engineering Professor Gast's Cait Sith robots since the Deepground Incident. This is the first prototype of our efforts."

The large robot mog strode forward to where Reeve was standing.

"Everyone…" Reeve said with pleasure. "Meet Cait Sith II."

"H-h-h-hello guys!" the mechanical cat stuttered. "It's good to b-b-b-b-be back."

Reeve turned around to face his companions, his expression a little less animated. "It still has a few bugs to work out but…"

"He's just fine." Tifa interrupted. "Now get your men out of here!"

"Right." Reeve responded awkwardly, not being used to receiving orders. He spun on his heal with the intent of heading towards the nearest helicopter and almost ran into Reno who had been stepping forward to make another insistence on helping.

"Watch it…" Reno started to say, but was interrupted by another fit of coughing.

Frustration and annoyance creased Reeve Tsuesti's brow. "For the last time, none of you are fit to fight! Now follow me to the chopper!"

Reeve grabbed the coughing Reno firmly by the elbow and began pulling him towards the nearest helicopter. The rest of the Turks reluctantly followed, Elena still leaning heavily on Tseng for support and Rude dragging an almost limp Samuru. As the Turks neared their transportation they heard the sounds of battle beginning behind them and all felt a twinge of regret at the action they were missing.

Any second thoughts the team may have had about leaving were dispelled however, as Elena collapsed in convulsions with her eyes rolling back into her head. Without a word Tseng picked her up bodily and all but sprinted towards the helicopter despite his own struggling with the unusual illness Jenova had inflicted upon them. Seeing their team mate's trouble, Reno rushed forward to try and help and Rude quickened his pace while dragging the remnant.

Suddenly Rude felt Samuru jerk in an unusual way, and the remnant stopped coughing. Rude looked down to see what was wrong with the remnant when a quick electric shock exploded through Rude's leg and up his body, disrupting his coordination and breaking his hold on the remnant. Rude felt the Samuru offer a quick punch to his face, but the blow seemed to miss, passing mostly under his jaw and causing little damage.

"The remnant's escaping!" Tseng's voice was heard calling over the commotion. "Rude go after him! Reno cut him off through the side alley. We'll come back for you."

Rude's eyes re-focused to see Samuru ducking into the shadows between the ruined buildings of sector four. He glanced over quickly to see Reeve, Tseng, and the unconscious Elena already in a rising helicopter. Reno had jumped out and was heading towards a nearby alley.

"C'mon Rude!" Reno yelled at him. "Get on him, I'll head him off."

Rude snapped to attention, pulled out the taser dart Samuru had jammed in his leg earlier, and sprinted off into the ruins. He hadn't gone more than a dozen yards, however, before he began to feel weak. His running slowed and he almost stumbled, and then he stopped altogether as he found himself using all his resources just to keep himself from falling down. Why was he so tired? Was this how Elena felt before collapsing into convulsions? Rude tried to breathe deeply but choked on something in the back of his throat. Reflexively his hand flew to his neck, only to pull back in surprise. It was wet. Rude stared at his hand for a moment, unable to accept that the blood was his own. The remnant hadn't punched him and missed, Rude realized, he had slit his throat! How had no one noticed the remnant carrying a weapon? How had _he_ not noticed? He was a Turk!

Rude tried to call for help, for Reno, for anyone. But the cry was muffled by the blood rapidly filling his lungs. The alley was dark, and Rude's vision was growing darker still. Rude felt himself losing strength and realized that he would soon pass out. As his legs crumpled beneath him he tried to throw his hands out to catch his fall but they did little more than flop in the direction of the ground. Rude heard his head hit the rain-soaked pavement, though he was by now too numb to feel it. And before the blackness closed in on his mind, Rude struggled to open his eyes one last time. Hoping that he would see Reno, or Reeve, or anyone come to help him. Maybe someone had heard his cry. Maybe they saw him fall from the helicopter overhead that surely couldn't have gone too far. He had spent so much of his life shunning help, establishing his independence. None of that mattered now. All he wanted to see was a friendly face. Tseng… Tifa… his mother.

Rude opened his eyes and saw, in front of his face, an empty soda can, dusty, faded, and long abandoned in the forgotten side streets of Midgar.


	12. Chapter 11: Those Who Fight Further

The Phoenix Eye

Chapter 11

Those Who Fight Further

_-- Midgar, The Evacuation Zone, A Short Time Earlier:_

Cloud watched for a moment as Reeve and the Turks left for the helicopters before returning his attention to the problem at hand. Jenova floated in the air before them, watching them with patience… not the patience of the kind-hearted or the wise, but rather the uncaring patience of those to whom time is an infinite luxury.

"Ok, here's the game plan." Cloud said quietly to those around him. "Keep up a constant stream of attacks, don't give her time to breath, just tire her out. And rotate fighters frequently, so everyone has a chance to rest and use healing magic. No more than three fighters attacking at one time. I don't want us getting in each other's way. Barret, Tifa, and I will go first." Everyone present nodded in agreement, this was, after all, the same tried and true method they had used fighting Sephiroth.

Cloud Barret and Tifa advanced forward towards Jenova, while the rest of them formed a semi-circle formation a short distance behind. Jenova smiled, and drifted down to meet them in front of the ruined reactor. Silently her feet touched the ground, the trailing edges of her black wings sweeping the dust and rubble from the street, her protective energy shield remaining a perfect shimmering globe around her. She was nearly as tall as Barret, though her frame was more slender than Cloud's, giving her an almost skeletal appearance by comparison.

She opened her mouth and spoke. And though her voice was soft, almost a whisper, each person heard it in perfect clarity, as if she had spoken it with her lips touching their ears. "So you presume to fight me?"

Cloud answered. "You are a threat to this planet and every living thing on it. You give us no choice but to destroy you."

"I, a threat to this planet?" Jenova laughed. "How can I threaten something which belongs to me? …Which will soon become a part of me? I destroy nothing! All life will become part of me, as it is naturally meant to be, each consciousness joining me in a paradise beyond mortal imagination. It is you who seek to destroy your god!"

"You waste your lies on us, Jenova! We know what you are, and you are no god to us!" Cloud shouted back at the abomination before him.

"I was once." Jenova said smiling to Cloud. "There was a time when you headed my call. And you could do so again. Think of what I could give you."

Cloud scowled low. "There is nothing you could offer me that would make me betray my friends."

"No?" Jenova said smiling. "What about Sephiroth? I could destroy his soul forever; you could have your ultimate vengeance by taking his place. Claim everything he wanted to be."

"No thank you." Cloud replied sternly.

"If not him… what about her?" Jenova said pointing towards Tifa. Cloud spun to face his wife, his eyes widening in alarm. "I know what you have been dreading my child, it will happen just as you fear, unless you want me to do something about it…"

"Cloud don't listen to her…" Tifa insisted. "I am already yours, she doesn't know what she's talking about." Tifa tried to remain strong for Cloud, but she hadn't understood what Jenova had offered, and something in her husband's eyes told her that he hadn't told her everything. Jenova laughed again.

"That is what you want, right Cloud? …To be with her forever. I can do it you know. I can make her just as immortal you are. That is your greatest fear isn't it, to remain young while she grows old and dies..." Cloud looked to the ground in shame, as Tifa's hand flew to her mouth, and tears flooded her eyes. Why had he never told her? "…Of course there will be no growing old and dying if you refuse my offer. For none of you stand a chance of survival if you defy me.

Suddenly Cloud smiled and opened his eyes. Tifa stopped crying as she recognized hope in her husband's eyes.

"Jenova," Cloud said carefully. "You have never shown any charity or consideration for anyone before, even those who serve you. You abandoned Sephiroth when he failed to defeat me. You traded Kadaj like a pawn even though his only desire was to please you. If fighting you is truly impossible, then why are you asking for my help? Why try to bribe me unless you are afraid?"

Jenova was no longer smiling. "Oh you of little faith. If you will not serve the rightful god and ruler of all creation, then you will die."

In a flash Jenova flew at Cloud, a blinding fire engulfing her naked form and extending from her hand like a weapon. Faster than the blink of an eye, Cloud had First Tsurugi in his hand and blocked the thrust of Jenova's attack. As the flames faded from Jenova, she was now dressed in the deepest black armor, of a fashion never before seen. In her right hand she held a black curved sword, longer than Cloud's and nearly as wide, the blade of which was twisted and serrated in a diabolical design.

Jenova pressed her attack on Cloud. And though his sword fighting abilities were superhuman, it took all his speed strength and skill not be overcome by the ferocity of the alien's offensive. In an instant Barret and Tifa sprang to Cloud's aid. Barret readied his cybernetic machine gun, and fired off burst shots at every clear moment in the fray. Tifa, finding no way to get close, started casting spells to assist Cloud.

Jenova, however, was only just starting. For while she was attacking Cloud viciously with the sword held in her right hand, she began to cast her own spells with her left hand. Tifa barely dodged one magical attack which exploded the ruins behind her. Barret, on the other hand, was hit square in the chest by a second eldritch blast killing him instantly. Nanaki was on the spot in an instant and cast an advanced life spell to bring the gunman back to full functionality.

"We got your back spiky!" Cloud heard the familiar voice from behind him. instinctively Cloud sprang back away from Jenova as Cid and Yuffie took his place in melee combat. Cloud stopped right where he landed to catch his breath. His eyes searched Jenova for any weakness in her defense. Nearby, Tifa dodged another spell, and was replace by Cait Sith who began casting a summon. Tifa quickly fell back to her husband's side.

"She's too fast." Cloud said to his companion. "…And she strikes with more force using one hand than I do with two!"

"None of my spells penetrated her energy shield." Tifa added. "Come on Cloud… Think! All enemies have a weakness. What is she hiding? What is she afraid of?"

Cait Sith finished his summon as Cid flew back dead. Vincent caught the pilot in mid air with a life spell ready, and Shelke stepped into melee to prevent Yuffie from being overwhelmed. Overhead, the summoned form of Bahamut prepared to unleash its fury on Jenova. With a flick of her left hand Jenova summoned a creature of her own; bat-like and alien, with a tusked jaw and three pairs of talons. The two behemoths collided in the air, and fell in a tangle of limbs and writhing magic.

Cloud got up and started approaching Jenova. Taking First Tsurugi into his hands, he unlatched one of the fasteners and split it into two swords. "My turn." he yelled as he charged into combat. Yuffie immediately withdrew, blood soaked and limping, though Shelke stayed in the fray. Cloud quickly noticed that Shelke was actually fast enough to avoid most of Jenova's attacks.

Though Cloud sacrificed parrying strength by using two swords and suffered several serious wounds because of it, between his two whirling blades and Shelke's twin fighting knives on Jenova's flank the two of them managed to get in a few hits on the hitherto untouched alien. To Cloud's disappointment, however, each of Jenova's wounds began closing, even before the blade had finished slicing through the flesh. Shelke began to tire, and Jenova took the opportunity to lay a power blow on Cloud striking deep through his color bone and rib cage. While a normal man would have been killed by wound, Cloud merely staggered back, dropping one of his swords and using his arm to keep his chest intact. Now facing Shelke alone, Jenova exploded a magical attack against the nimble fighter, crushing Shelke's magical shield and killing her in a single blow. No sooner was Jenova free of her melee attackers, however, than a loud roar was heard, and Jenova's attention snapped upward to catch Vincent's demon form Chaos descending in infernal fury.

Tifa rushed to her husband's side, potion in hand, while Nanaki dashed for Shelke. Another energy blast from Jenova, however, met Nanaki en-route, and killed him as well.

To Cloud's surprise Tifa swore, a very rare occurrence for her, as she tossed Cloud the healing potion to administer to himself and began casting a spell. Cloud downed the potion and felt the magic re-knitting his severed bones and flesh as Tifa finished summoning Phoenix, the magical construct in the image of the ancient god of new life. Tifa began directing Phoenix to cast its life spell on those who had fallen, but Jenova countered the strategy with a summon of her own. From Jenova's hand sprang a massive fanged and tentacled beast, flying through the air towards the Phoenix summon. Cid, however, met Jenova's summon in mid air, and began attacking it with his spear, allowing Phoenix the time to restore Shelke and Nanaki.

Though Vincent' demon form fought with great strength, even Chaos was forced to retreat after a time. He was replaced by the combined forces of Tifa, Cid, and Cait Sith, trying to distract Jenova sufficiently to prevent her from casting her deadly magic. The battle raged on. Jenova caused many more injuries and deaths, which were countered by powerful potions, magics and phoenix downs. But slowly, the fighters began to tire, and their supply of restorative items approached depletion, while Jenova regenerated all wounds almost instantly, and never once eased her pressing offensive.

Vincent walked over to where Cloud was resting, while other fighters took up the offensive. "Are we beaten?" Cloud asked his friend without looking up.

"No." the quiet gunman responded. "I figured out how to break her defenses."

Cloud stood up and faced Vincent with renewed hope. "How?" he asked the gunman.

"I'll need Yuffie. And I'll need you to distract her so she doesn't catch wind of what I'm doing."

Without another word Vincent left. Cloud smiled to himself and hefted his sword, and with a fury he had not known since the battle started he threw himself again at Jenova.

Yuffie sprang back from Jenova as Cloud engaged in the fight. her breathing fast and hard. She struggled to quickly consume a powerful healing potion, followed by an ether. She felt more than sensed Vincent approaching behind her, but her ninja training told her it was not an enemy.

"We're all going to die. Aren't we Vincent?" Yuffie asked without turning around.

"No." he responded simply.

"Yes we are!" Yuffie argued. "We can't beat that thing and it's all my fault! If only I hadn't been greedy and tried to keep the Phoenix Eye. If only I had destroyed it like Nanaki had suggested." Yuffie clenched inwardly to keep from crying, but her eyes watered despite her efforts.

Vincent was silent for a moment. "I'm not going to tell you it isn't your fault." he said quietly. "I know little about such things. But I do know that all of us were there, and none of us foresaw that touching the stone would complete the remnant's spell." Yuffie settled her nerves and tried to listen to what Vincent was saying. "Everyone here has made mistakes which we regret." Vincent explained pointing to their teammates in various stages of combat. "I let Sephiroth come into being when I knew it was wrong and might have stopped it. Cloud let Jenova control him in giving the black materia to Sephiroth twice, and was unable to stop Sephiroth from killing Jenova. Barret feels responsible for the destruction of the old Corel city… do I need to go on?"

"No." Yuffie replied, her eyes on the ground. "So what are we going to do?" she asked in hopelessness.

"Jenova still has the Phoenix Eye." Vincent explained. "She is using it to heal herself. But if we can take it from her…"

Yuffie looked at the alien and wrinkled her brow in confusion. "Where is she keeping it?"

"Behind her armor, on her chest. I sensed it there while fighting her. It is well beyond the reach of even the most nimble hands… unless of course those hands were using a certain materia which allows even unreachable objects to be removed."

Yuffie stood up, her face beaming with cunning and delight. "My Steal materia!" she whispered. "Ok Vincent. How am I going to get close enough to use it?"

Vincent did not respond, but simply lifted the edge of his cloak to reveal the inside.

Yuffie watched him at first in puzzlement, but then the color drained from her face as she realized his implication. "No!" she replied emphatically. "No. no. no. no. no! There is no way I'm doing that."

"The only way you are going to get close enough without Jenova realizing you are there is if I hide you in the sub-dimension."

"I can't" Yuffie pleaded. "You remember what Nero did to me? I can't go back in there!"

"Nero the Sable was trying to kill you." Vincent stated flatly. "I will protect you."

"I can't" Yuffie cringed away from Vincent.

"Are you merely a thief?" Vincent demanded of her. "Or are you a ninja of Wutai, heir to the Kisaragi name?"

Yuffie clenched her fists in rage and glared at Vincent, no longer trying to hide her tears. "How dare you!"

"Few of us get a chance to correct our mistakes Yuffie." Vincent explained softly. "Can you do this… or do I go in alone."

Yuffie slammed her eyes shut. She knew Vincent was right. She shouldn't be mad at him, it was her own fear that angered her, her own self-doubt she needed to conquer. She opened her eyes. Vincent still stood before her, his cape drawn open to one side. Yuffie took a deep breath and launched herself at Vincent, wrapping her arms viselike around his chest, her eyes squeezed shut against what she knew was coming.

Vincent drew his cloak quickly around the woman before him and began shifting halfway into one of his demon forms. Gently he drew Yuffie into the subdimmension where he stored his own body when shifted. As Yuffie slid into meta-existence Vincent could feel her begin to panic. Vincent did his best to comfort the young ninja, his mind now communicating with hers directly. And though Vincent had not had such calming thoughts himself in many years he somehow managed to convince Yuffie that she was safe.

"Prepare yourself, and watch for my signal." Vincent thought to her reassuringly. Yuffie responded mentally in the affirmative while struggling to contain her discomfort. Vincent rushed forward towards Jenova. The less time Yuffie spent in the sub-dimension, he thought to himself, the more focused she would be on her task. As Vincent closed the final distance he shifted partially into Gallian Beast, leaping into Jenova in a ferocious animalistic attack.

Cloud motioned the other fighters to back off, as he and Vincent engaged the abomination alone. Vincent clawed and bit at Jenova relentlessly, while looking for the right moment but not wanting to let on about his plan. Cloud pressed at Jenova's other side, knowing that Vincent had something up his sleeve and trying to buy his friend the needed time. The opening came. Jenova launched a thrusting attack towards Vincent, but rather than dodge or parry, Vincent placed his left arm directly in the path of the blade. Jenova's sword pierced Vincent's arm from elbow to palm, and continued forward through his rib cage, left lung, and out his back, splitting his shoulder blade in two. But even though his hand was split at the palm, Vincent's fingers gripped the black, blood soaked blade, holding it firmly in his chest.

In an instant Vincent began shifting back to regular form, and tossed his cloak open wide. Yuffie sprang into existence right in Jenova's face, her hand clasping to Jenova's breastplate and activating her Steal materia before she had even materialized from the waste down. The Phoenix Eye appeared in Yuffie's hand and Jenova screamed in anger. Yuffie planted her still forming feet on Jenova's chest and sprang backwards with all her might. Jenova raised her left hand to unleash a spell at the fleeing ninja, but Vincent caught her arm with his free hand. Despite his wounds, Vincent had managed to transform himself into a different demon.

Jenova turned down from her intended target and released the spell on Vincent's new form as she tried to pull her hand from his grasp. But Vincent had chosen well. This was Hell Masker, demon of suffering, and all the pain she inflicted only fed the demon and made Vincent's grip stronger. Yuffie landed a short distance off and began swapping one of her equipped materia for the Phoenix Eye. She glanced up at Jenova Struggling with Vincent's demon form Hell Masker. Suddenly Jenova lurched forward, the tip of First Tsurugi protruding from her chest.

For the first time since the battle began, Jenova paused. Then, screaming in rage, she tore her sword from Vincent's torso, exploding his chest and arm as she swung the weapon into her other assailant, slicing Cloud in two. She then lifted what remained of Vincent with her left hand and threw him through a nearby wall, his demonic grip taking a part of Jenova's flesh with him. With the force of her will Jenova expelled Cloud's sword from her back, the blade clattering down near its dead owner. The calamity from the skies stood tall and glared at the remaining fighters, challenging any of them to come forward. What everyone noticed, however, was that Jenova's wounds were no longer healing.

Yuffie activated the Phoenix Eye, secured firmly in a materia slot on her bracer. Somehow she already knew how to use it. Cloud returned to life, as his severed form pulled itself together and re-knitted the flesh. Vincent, who had been forced back to his regular form by the extreme damage, felt all of his strength returning. Everyone who stood against Jenova felt their wounds immediately healed as fatigue evaporated from them like dew before the morning sun.

Jenova turned towards Yuffie, murder and hatred burning in her eyes. Screaming with unending fury Jenova charged the young ninja. Yuffie shrank back in terror as her life flashed before her eyes. The attack never came. All of Yuffie's companions had rushed forward in unison to block Jenova's attack.

The dark goddess fought on with terrible wrath, surviving thousands of blows that would have felled a mortal foe. But as long as Yuffie held the Phoenix Eye the planet's defenders recovered from every attack, never tired, and never relented. Though the first part of the battle had seemed an eternity, the last part was over in what felt like mere moments. Jenova's body lay on the rain-soaked, blood-soaked, magic-scorched ruins of Midgar, her form broken beyond function, as lifeless as an immortal entity can ever be.

"Is it dead?" Barret asked skeptically.

Cid stuck his spear into the charred corpse again. "Well she ain't movin'" he answered.

Yuffie came forward into the circle of her friends, her fingers tracing the Phoenix Eye held in the materia slot on her bracer.

"You ok Yuffie?" Tifa asked upon noticing her friend's downtrodden expression.

"I'll be fine." the young ninja replied. "I just wish I had never touched this stupid thing and caused all this mess to begin with."

Tifa walked over and put her arms around Yuffie. It felt odd to the ninja; her mother had been the only one who ever did that. For a moment Yuffie considered pulling back, she was the Lord of Wutai, after all, she wasn't supposed to need comforting. But the stress and turmoil of the recent events, combined with her friend Tifa's sincerity, soon melted her pride and she hugged Tifa back.

"You can't blame yourself for what happened." Tifa explained softly. "No one could have known that touching it would have completed the spell."

"But I was being selfish, if I hadn't wanted to keep it this wouldn't have happened." Yuffie sobbed into Tifa's shoulder, no longer caring if the others saw, knowing they would not judge her weak for it.

"Yuffie, think about it." Tifa responded more sternly. "Even if you had decided to destroy it you probably still would have picked it up out of that machine. This didn't happen because you were selfish. The remnant took a gamble that one of us would touch it and none of us saw his trap. You can't blame yourself."

Yuffie nodded and took a step back, stifling her sobs. Tifa instinctually reached out to dry her tears but Yuffie batted her hand away.

"Sorry. I have kids, it's a habit." Tifa supplied in explanation.

Yuffie let out a half chuckle. "You know Tifa… when I was using the Phoenix Eye… I felt so powerful. So much energy was coursing through my body… I thought that if… I thought this is what Sephiroth wanted… He wanted Power. I felt like a god." Tifa watched her friend carefully as Yuffie struggled to explain. "That's what Sephiroth wanted, unlimited power. …And Samuru too. He murdered to get this stone and to have it for… to use its power to restore an evil god. I've always wanted to be powerful, so I could stop evil, so I could right the injustices in the world. …but this is cheating. Cheating death, cheating life… the way life is supposed to be. How many people have suffered because other people sought power? When I used the Phoenix Eye… it didn't feel right. It felt like I was becoming like him… like Sephiroth.

Yuffie plucked the obsidian stone from her materia slot, its coursing veins of red and green glowing from the energy that had recently passed through it. Gently Yuffie set the stone down on a nearby piece of concrete.

"Cloud…" Yuffie said quietly. "I want this nightmare to end. Will you destroy it for me?"

"If that is what you truly want…" Cloud replied.

"It is."

Cloud pulled his sword from his back, raised it over his head, and brought it down hard on the magical stone. With a small explosion of fire the Phoenix eye fragmented into many pieces. For a moment, each piece glowed red, and somewhere the cry of a great bird was heard. The moment passed, and the pieces of obsidian grew cold and faded to black, never to glow again.

The triumphant fighters looked up, as the sound of approaching helicopters reached their ears. Three WRO helicopters where coming in, silhouetted by the rising of the morning sun. In a few moments the first of them had landed and Reeve came out to greet them.

"Is it over?" President Reeve inquired.

"It's over…" Cloud responded. "Is everyone else ok?"

"Yes everyone is fine," Reeve told him. "The strange illness stopped suddenly about ten minutes ago. We lost communication with Cait Sith, was the prototype destroyed?"

"Cait Sith probably just needs some repairs." Cloud explained. "You know Professor Gast's version was able to be healed by cure spells…"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. We're working on that. Did you manage to recover the Phoenix Eye?" Reeve asked urgently.

"Actually…" Cloud began to explain, but was interrupted by someone approaching from the second helicopter.

"The Phoenix Eye! Did you get it?" Reno asked urgently.

"We destroyed it." Cloud stated.

Reeve cast his eyes down. Reno stared, unmoving and unblinking, and his jaw open.

"Reno, it was for the best…" Cloud started, but Tifa cut him off.

"Reeve, Reno… what's wrong" Tifa asked, sensing that something had happened.

"It's Rude…" Reno's voice cracked. "He's dead."


End file.
